


The Knight Industries Cyborg

by Fever_Sheep



Category: Knight Rider (1982)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Human KARR, Human KITT, Light Angst, Murder Mystery, cyborg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-23 19:31:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 37,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21325483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fever_Sheep/pseuds/Fever_Sheep
Summary: When a way to create a totally functioning human body from scratch is fathomed, Devon suggests a trial run with KITT as the subject. Michael, however, isn't too fond of the idea of his best friend (and car) becoming humanoid.Part 2: An old foe resurfaces and wastes no time in causing trouble at the Foundation. The crew must team together to keep each other safe and defend FLAG's reputation.
Comments: 58
Kudos: 57





	1. Devon's Calling

“So you _don’t _know what Devon’s project is?”

“I’ve told you twice, Michael, he hasn’t said a word to me regarding anything. Why are you so worked up about it?”

“I don’t know, KITT… he just seems so secretive. Isn’t Bonnie helping him, too?”

“I believe so.”

“Think she’d tell us anything?”

“Why do you need to know so soon, Michael? I’m sure it will be fine; something small, maybe. A new feature for me to let me dispense hamburgers on demand, perhaps.”

“Now that would be a treat...”

The scene of a small town passed by outside the window, quaint and undisturbed. Its name was Alpine Crest, and once upon a time, Michael and KITT had been on a mission there in pursuit of a counterfeiter. That had been a long time ago now, but a re-visit to the town wouldn’t be a bad idea. The perfect place for a relaxing getaway, which, as it seemed, was exactly what Michael needed right now.

“Michael. Devon’s calling,” KITT said, in a tone that seemed almost like a warning.

Ignoring this warning tone, too curious for answers, Michael accepted the call and greeted Devon with a ‘yo!’. This made KITT mentally cringe because he has standards when it comes to this sort of thing.

“When are you going to stop being so secretive about your project, eh?”

“Well, that’s just the reason I called, actually,” Devon smiled, calmly, as he straightened his tie, “The mobile unit is just a few miles away from your current location. If you have the time, I’d like you to join us for a few minutes.”

“Sure thing, Devon,” Michael nodded, firmly, “Hey, what’s this whole thing about, anyway?”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out,” Devon told him, “I require KITT’s permission before we go on with anything more drastic.”

“_KITT’s permission_?” Michael repeated, squinting slightly at the display monitor.

“And yours, of course,” Devon replied.

“Well, alright, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Thank you, Michael. You won’t be disappointed.”

♦

The moment the truck’s trailer door closed and Michael stepped out of KITT and to his feet, he could feel that something was off. Not in a particularly bad way, but in a way that said ‘something big is about to happen. Glad I’m not you’.

Devon was seated at the computer and Bonnie was positioned beside him, waiting. She wore a look of knowing and warning, not unlike KITT’s voice earlier. She clearly wasn’t too keen to find out how Michael would react to the new project.

“Ah, Michael! You’re here!” Devon grinned.

Sensing he had something up his expensive jacket sleeve, Michael approached cautiously.

“Yeah, what’s going on?”

“A new proposition!” Devon announced, waving him over, “Come and have a look at this.”

Upon the screen were masses of blueprints, pictures and statistics. A whole paragraph of text bore many mentions of the words ‘artificial’ and ‘body’, and a couple of instances of the word ‘organs’ which was a bit disconcerting. A rotating image of some sort of chemical composition took centre stage on the screen, turning in a manner that said ‘I know you don’t know what any of this means, I’m just here to look cool’.

“Looks Greek to me,” Michael said, folding his arms.

“This, dear boy, is the composition of the closest artificial substance to real human skin and muscle,” Devon explained, “Along with how it could work in conjunction with the use of human or artificial organs to create a functioning body. Additionally, it’s possible to create a circulatory system and nervous system to go with it.”

“And?”

“Well, to see if it all works correctly before being utilised to help people with extensive injuries, I thought that it would be wise to test it out.”

“On who? And how?”

“On KITT, of course.”

“KITT?”

“Yes, if you both consent to it. His AI would be able to be transplanted into this new body to test out its functionality to the highest extent. As well as that, he would have the experience of being able to feel just as human as us. I personally think that it’s a great idea. Bonnie and I already started designing his body-”

“Wait, wait, wait, slow down,” Michael frowned, holding his hands out in a surrender.

All this information was coming at him too fast. KITT? Human? Designing a body? It seemed… outlandish… even slightly repellent, what with the talk of organs and all that. The thought of having KITT in human form just walking around made Michael feel strange inside. What would KITT even look like as a person? Did Devon really think this was a good idea? And Bonnie, too? Michael turned around to look back to KITT, whose scanner was travelling back and forth in an unfazed, constant motion.

“Are you hearing this, buddy?”

“Yes, Michael, I am,” KITT replied. He sounded almost thoughtful, as if considering the matter seriously.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about it… are you?”

“I’m not sure, Michael. It might not be a bad idea. I get to see what it’s like being human, Devon gets to try out the new invention. I don’t see what’s so scary.”

Michael stared at KITT’s scanner and for at least half a minute there was silence. The air seemed to thicken and the noise of the lorry travelling along the tarmac became amplified somehow.

“Well, just consider it,” Devon said, breaking the silence, as he placed a hand on Michael’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Michael swallowed, pulling away, “We will.”

He walked back over to KITT in a sort of daze, running his hand over the bonnet as he did, before opening the door and getting in.

“Off so soon?”

“I think KITT and I should go for a drive and think things over.”

The ramp behind slowly began to lower and the cold air from outside came rushing into the trailer like a herd of cowboys on their way to the bar at happy hour.

“Michael. Have I done something wrong?” KITT asked, worriedly, as they started to reverse.

“No, KITT,” Michael sighed, patting the dash, “You haven’t done anything.”


	2. Transplant

The burger joint was almost empty at this time of night. The building’s lights and a flickering street lamp were the only light sources around the vicinity; even the restaurant sign’s red neons had died. The only car parked outside, excluding KITT, was an old Buick Regal with one rim that didn’t match the others. It looked as if it had seen better days. _Much_ better days.

“Are you sure you want to go ahead with this?” Michael asked, opening KITT’s door and slipping in.

“Don’t get grease on my upholstery,” KITT reminded him, “And, yes, I’m sure.”

“It’s just a big risk, that’s all,” Michael sighed, rubbing his hands on his jeans (he didn’t fancy getting a harsh glare from KITT later if he got grease on the seats now), “The stuff’s never been tested before. Look… I’m just saying this because I’m worried about you. You _and_ your legs, if you get them.”

“I didn’t know you cared,” KITT replied, smugly.

In all reality, the main thing holding Michael back from encouraging his friend was the mental image of him having legs and a face. He stared at the darkened voice modulator above the wheel, waiting for those three red lines to light up with some witty remark or other. But nothing.

“OK, come on, pal, let’s go,” Michael sighed.

KITT’s headlights flicked up alertly and his engine came to life with a roar.

What would happen to him if he changed bodies? Would a new car have to be deployed or would this body still be effective without KITT’s AI? If so, what features would be lost, and at what cost?

Michael had many questions, and no way of finding out the answers unless he went back and interrogated Devon some more… or, of course, if he just went along with the new body thing.

As they left the burger joint, Michael wondered how much of his friend might be lost.

♦

Bonnie Barstow slid out from underneath KITT’s pointed chassis and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. Transferring an AI from a car to a humanoid body wasn’t going to be an easy job, but she’d been figuring out the process for a few weeks now and had finally decided on the most efficient way to go about it.

Now that the Knight Industries Two-Thousand microprocessors had been removed, KITT’s car body was nothing but a Pontiac Trans Am. A very sturdy Trans Am, admittedly, with a bullet and flame proof exterior, but nothing compared to what it was with KITT’s AI.

Michael watched on with his arms folded, a look of reflection on his face as he chewed the situation over. He’d said a temporary goodbye to KITT earlier and made sure that he was absolutely sure about going ahead with the process.

It seemed that he had wanted to do it just to prove to Michael that he was perfectly capable of being human. There was nothing that could change his mind except being told directly not to do it, but it wouldn’t be fair to him to not let him make his own decisions for once.

“So, what features have been lost now?” Michael asked as Bonnie got to her feet.

“Pretty much anything that you would normally access through KITT. The CPU, surveillance mode, voice stress analyser… it’s still basically indestructible, though, so it’s worth using.”

Michael bit his lip in thought. It would be weird driving the car without KITT available to take over at any time, call people or keep on the lookout for potential threats. It would take a lot of getting used to, that was for sure.

“So when can I see him?”

“Depends on how quickly he can get his bearings. He’ll have to get used to movement, and though I can program him with some basic instinctual knowledge, there’s a lot of stuff he’s going to have to figure out. Devon’s given you a week off, so we’ll see what happens,” Bonnie explained, tossing a spanner up and down in her hand, “Just… try not to worry about it, OK? You’re just going to make it worse than it is.”  
Michael didn’t reply, but he watched her leave and turned to inspect KITT’s – now empty—body. He peered through the window and inspected the dash. Nothing was lit up. The whole thing seemed dead, lifeless and empty.

Michael supposed he’d have to get used to not seeing KITT as a car. It was easy to forget that KITT wasn’t the car itself, but rather an intelligence that could be transferred between bodies. He wasn’t exactly physical, but he was still there, with a personality and a conscience… it was a strange concept, and Michael was not enjoying being reminded of it.

He placed his fingers on his forehead to rub his temples.

_“I’m best friends with a computer...” _he muttered to himself, then he left the room to go get a drink and think the whole matter over again. It was all he really had to think about lately. Devon and Bonnie wouldn’t let him see the body that they had designed, and his mind was ultimately focused on what on Earth his friend was going to look like. Whatever it was, it would still make Michael uncomfortable to look at.

Maybe he would have to make the most of his week off and go rock climbing or something like that to take his mind off the whole ordeal...


	3. A Joyous Reunion (or Not...)

It had been a week since KITT’s AI had been removed from his Pontiac body, and to Michael’s surprise, he was actually starting to miss his clever comments and daily complaints.

It was a relief when Devon called him back to his office, but it was also very nerve-wreaking. Questions upon questions flooded Michael’s head: what would KITT look like? What would he act like? Would he still be the same as he was before or would his personality be different? Only one way to find out.

“Ah, Michael, I’m glad you could come!” Devon smiled, standing up from his seat at the desk.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Michael replied, but his voice seemed unsure, “How is he?”

“Oh, KITT’s doing fabulously. He’s adapted to his new body extremely well and he seems very excited to see you again.”

“So where is he now?”

“With Bonnie; they should be here very shortly.”

As if on cue, the doors on the other side of the room opened and Bonnie entered, smiling. Her smile stayed even after she made eye contact with Michael. She greeted him from across the room and fixed her hair. The look on her face was one of excitement, which meant only good things.

“He’s excited to see you again!” Bonnie grinned, clearly proud.

“Well, show him in!” Devon urged.

Bonnie waved a hand towards the doors as if to say ‘it’s safe – what are you waiting for?’, and a few moments later, in walked a slender figure in all-black.

Michael’s face dropped – half in admiration for Devon and Bonnie’s hard work and half in discomfort – as he laid eyes upon him.

“That’s KITT?” he swallowed.

“That’s KITT,” Devon nodded.

It certainly was KITT He stood around 5’8”, his figure snaking up from the floor like one long, svelte shadow. He rubbed his gaunt hands together nervously and held himself in an otherwise very refined way (clearly Devon had impressed the concept of formality upon him). He wore black suit trousers and a polo-necked top that somehow – even though it was very long – didn’t come more than half way up his neck. His face was angular, defined, and acute in a way that seemed a touch too errorless. He had a long, sharp nose, upon which rested a pair of thin-rimmed glasses, framing his hazel eyes. His hair was so dark it seemed to absorb light and it was neatly groomed into a side-swept quiff that seemed just a little bit too clean. As his eyes met with Michael’s, his mouth formed into a glad smile and he cautiously stepped forward.

“Michael!” he beamed, “I’m so glad to see you again!”

It seemed uncanny hearing his familiar voice come out of such an unfamiliar face.

As he stopped to stand in front of his friend, KITT held his arms out, expectantly, but soon dropped them after two long seconds of stillness.

“Just a handshake, then?” he offered, shaking Michael’s hand, “Hello, pal.”

“...Hey, KITT...” Michael replied, without a hint of a smile on his face.

KITT’s face fell, too, as he let go of his hand.

“Something wrong?”

“No, no, it’s just strange seeing you, that’s all.”

“Did you miss me?”

“I… yeah, sure, bud.”

Bonnie and Devon were silent, watching them interact. This wasn’t the joyous reunion that they had had in mind…

“Look at me! Isn’t this great?” KITT started, attempting to break the tension. He slowly turned a 360 to show off.

“Yeah, it’s real great,” Michael nodded, but he didn’t seem exactly enthused.

“Are you worried you might have some competition, Michael?” Devon asked, leaning back in his chair, but all he got in reply was a vapid ‘ha’, “...Well, the good news is we already have a mission for you both to go on,” he continued, “It involves an illusive thief who has been on a spree of break-ins as of late, stealing important documents from various office buildings. Do you think you could help?”

“_I _sure can, but… is _he _ready?” Michael asked, gesturing to KITT.

“Of course he is!” Devon smiled, “KITT’s been doing superbly, I’m confident he won’t let you down.”

Michael didn’t look so sure.

“I’ve only fallen over _twice,_” KITT proclaimed, proudly, putting his hands behind his back, “I’m ready, Mr. Miles.”

Bonnie’s gaze met Michael’s and she raised an eyebrow in a look of judgement. She waved him over for ‘a quick word, please’ and ushered him into a corner.

_“What’s wrong?”_ she whispered, frowning, clearly displeased.

_“Nothing, everything’s fine!”_ Michael insisted.

_“It’s not, though, is it? What’s up with you?”_

_ “It’s just strange, that’s all… My car is a person!” _

_ “KITT’s not ‘your car’; he’s… well, he’s KITT. You’ve known him for years, why are you suddenly uncomfortable with him? Do you not like his new look?”  
“_

_Oh, no, he looks swell, you did a great job.”_

_ “Then what is it?”_

_ “I’m not used to him having a face, that’s all.”_

_ “Well, you’re going to have to get used to it,” _Bonnie told him, _“This is KITT now. You’re a team, and if you don’t get used to him and work with him like you usually do, no mission you’re on will ever get done. It’s not permanent, Michael. Just try to get along with him. For me.”_

♦

The Foundation had provided an inconspicuous-looking car for Michael and KITT’s mission: a silver Pontiac Bonneville that wouldn’t raise any attention. Michael had parked it facing an office building, which he was certain the thief would strike at after studying the order of the robberies carefully.

“Keep an eye out, OK?” Michael ordered.

“Yes, Michael,” KITT replied, unsettled. He was used to always being called ‘pal’ or ‘buddy’, and Michael hadn’t called him that since he’d got this new body. It probably wasn’t the best idea to bring it up now, but… “Michael?”

“Yes?”

“Is… is there something about me that you don’t like?”

Michael frowned but didn’t look at him, just kept staring out of the window,

“Not now, KITT,” he said, sharply.

KITT swallowed, nervously.

“If there’s something bothering you, we can tal-”

“KITT, I said not now.”

“Sorry.”

There fell a silence so thick that you could tear off pieces and hold it.

KITT wasn’t used to having sensation, and the feeling of his own heart beating was making him nervous and slightly nauseous. He tried to focus his attention on keeping on the lookout for suspicious activity, but he couldn’t tear his mind away from wondering about why his crime-fighting partner was acting so weirdly.

Michael turned to KITT and studied his pointed profile, thinking again how uncanny it was. He squinted slightly and raised an eyebrow.

A shadow darted past outside and caught Michael’s attention then. He scanned the area until he managed to pick out the shape of a shady figure.

“One O’clock,” he said, “Wait a minute or two and we’ll follow him. _Quietly.”_


	4. Take One

_“Quietly, remember?”_ Michael whispered as KITT’s foot rested on a creaky floorboard.

_“I know, Michael.”_

They were hidden away behind a wall, watching the thief from afar as he made his way around the building. The tech development offices on this floor would house a lot of valuable documents, so it was very likely the man was searching for the filing cabinets that would contain them. If Michael and KITT could get him focused on breaking into a cabinet or something, they could take the opportunity to pounce and catch him red-handed.

Silently, they darted behind another alcove, tailing the thief closely.

The thief, dressed head-to-toe in bat black, slipped into a filing room, and the two crime-fighters followed near behind. They found him picking the lock of a tall cabinet and took a brief second to assess the situation before striking.

At the first sound, though, the thief turned, saw them and darted off like a bullet.

Michael immediately took up the chase, and KITT shadowed behind, slender form weaving around tight gaps and through tight spaces. A cabinet fell over in the rush, but they narrowly dodged it. Something smashed. Something else toppled over. Neither Michael nor KITT stopped to look at what was broken, just kept their eyes on the chase.

It wasn’t long before they burst outside into a more open space. A construction site was positioned behind the office building and it looked as if that was where the crook was heading.

Out of the blue, the criminal reached into his pocket and pulled out a handgun.

“Look out, Michael; he has a gun,” KITT warned as he sprinted, somehow not losing his balance despite only having a week’s experience of walking.

“I can see that,” Michael retorted.

Before they could catch up, the thief disappeared inside a partially-demolished building.

Slowing slightly, knowing that he could be around any corner ready to shoot, Michael and KITT entered after him. Weaving around the inner walls, keeping an ear and an eye out for any movement, they filtered through the structure in search of their criminal.

Michael swallowed nervously, ducking his tall form behind a halfwall. He’d split from KITT – bearing the notion that he’d only slow them both down – and was now sneaking about on his lonesome. His mind somehow wandered from the issue at hand. He couldn’t get in touch with Bonnie or Devon because KITT sure couldn’t call them, he had no self-defence available like the molecular bonded shell and he had no scanner to scan the area. What was KITT even good for now, he wondered. He didn’t even realise he was thinking that way.

As he turned a corner, he found himself suddenly staring down the barrel of a gun.

His first instinct was to call for KITT, but he couldn’t quite get the word out of his mouth, and he feared he might be shot if he shouted for help. Instead, he slowly raised his hands.

“I just want to know what you were doing in that office,” he frowned, grave-faced.

“That’s none of your business,” the thief replied, cocking the pistol.

Michael swallowed. Usually he’d be able to get KITT to help, but he didn’t know what the guy was capable of now that he was ‘human’. Would he be able to do _anything_? He wasn’t exactly muscular; in fact, he looked like he’d snap in half if someone hit him in the stomach.

There was a quiet crunch from the right, presumably a footstep, that seemed to alert the criminal. While his head was turned, Michael took the opportunity to sprint for the closest wall he could see.

A bang.

A bullet struck the rubble beside him.

Close… too close.

Ducking behind a low wall, he found himself safe for a few seconds. As he gazed across the room he saw KITT crouched behind another partition a way away from him, looking very wide-eyed and alert.

_‘Shall we run for it?’ _KITT mimed.

Michael gave a nod and they assessed their options. It was a shame to let the guy get away, but with no self-defence there wasn’t much of a choice.

On the other side of the half-demolished structure, there was a wall with a gap big enough to run through without stalling and that would point them in the direction of the car. If they could just jump back into the car and get away they might still be able to catch up to their criminal and follow him for a while.

_‘Ready?’ _Michael mouthed, and when he got a nod of reply he started a countdown from three on his fingers.

As he reached ‘one’, both he and KITT sprung up and made a dash for the exit, as fast as their legs could carry them.

A bullet pinged off a sheet of metal to their left, and another shattered what was left of a window.

KITT’s heart raced, the unfamiliar sensation disorienting him slightly. They were only a few metres away from the outside, but it seemed like so much longer. His eyes picked something up in the reflection of his glasses’ lenses as they reached the outside, something small and metallic travelling towards him much too fast.

The next thing Michael knew, he was falling towards the ground.

He hit the gravel with a hearty thud, having clearly being pushed down by something. He rolled a couple of times before coming to rest with his head facing back through the building. He saw his wanted man run away in the opposite direction, but couldn’t pick himself up to follow.

Swallowing, Michael breathed a heavy sigh. His right side stung a bit from being scraped along the gravelly ground, and he was a bit out-of-breath, but aside from that he didn’t feel too bad. Being certain he knew he hadn’t fallen of his own error, he concluded that KITT must have either tripped him up or pushed him over. 

“KITT?” Michael frowned, propping himself up on one elbow. He looked around, but couldn’t see any sign of his partner in the darkness.

Looking down to his own legs, he saw a splash of red on his jeans. As he felt no pain in his leg, it was reasonable to assume that this wasn’t his own.

“KITT??” he repeated, scanning the area more frantically.

Eventually, his eyes came to rest on a thin black shape on the ground beside a pile of rubble.

Michael scrambled to his feet and hurried over as quickly as he could. Sure enough, the shape was his friend, breathing weakly if at all.

“KITT!” Michael repeated, taking him under the arms and pulling him onto his knee, “Talk to me!”

_“Michael...” _KITT replied with a gulp, managing to open one eye. He had a large stain over his middle, where he held his hand, clutching at the fabric of his top.

“C’mon, pal, breathe… What happened?”

_“It was going to… hit you… so I jumped in front.”_

“What was?”

_“A bullet… it was coming from behind...” _he tried to swallow and ended up panting, _“I pulled you down with me… when I fell… I’m sorry, Michael.”_

“Don’t be sorry, pal….” Michael whispered, shakily, mildly stunned.

_“If… if you go now, you… might be able… to catch him.”_

“What are you talking about? I can’t just leave you here!”

KITT didn’t reply, just closed his eyes and carried on breathing through his teeth. The patch around his middle kept slowly growing, spreading outwards and around. His hand was wet with red, too, and his grip kept weakening.

“Can you move?” Michael asked, worriedly.

KITT shook his head.

“If… If I contact Devon or Bonnie, they can come and help.”

_“How?”_

“What?”

_“_ _How can you… contact them?”_

“Well, I… There’s gotta be a phone box around here somewhere, I mean...” He sighed, hanging his head, “Just hang in there, buddy. You’re gonna be OK.”

_“How do… how do you know that..?”_

“Because… because you always are, KITT.”

KITT strained a smile, but it quickly dissipated, melting off his face. He coughed something up and spat out something else that Michael couldn’t identify in the gloom.

_“Michael…”_

“I’m right here, pal.”

_“I’m sorry.”_

“W-what for?”

_“For making you… go through with this… whole thing. You were right, Michael… I should have stayed as I was.”_

“KITT, no...”

_“You never liked me like this… Ah, I’m useless, aren’t I? I can’t even… save you from a bullet…”_

“No- KITT, no… You saved me. You did a great job, buddy. I’m sorry, too.”

_“Michael?”_

“Yeah, KITT?”

_“Don’t leave me.”_


	5. The Good News, Please

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for the interest in this fic; I thought the KR fandom was a bit dead but I see a couple of you have risen from the depths to join me in appreciating the show again. I hope you'll enjoy this ongoing fic as much as I enjoy writing it. 
> 
> -Fever

“I have some good news and some bad news,” Bonnie sighed, leaning on the door frame and wiping her hands clean with a cloth. She bore her usual exhausted expression and was clearly annoyed by the outcome of Michael and KITT’s mission, “Which do you want first?”

Michael hurriedly got to his feet and tossed down the magazine he was reading down on the sofa.

“Uh, the good news, please!” he said, rubbing his hands together nervously.

“Well, the good news is he’ll live and he’s recovering well. The bullet didn’t hit any vital organs – _somehow_ – and the surgeons were able to remove all the fragments in one operation.”

Michael breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hey, don’t look too relieved,” Bonnie continued, “The bad news is his injuries are still numerous, not only from being shot, but from the fall too. His leg slipped out of joint and so it’s going to take a bit of time to get him walking on it again. Additionally, he’s lost two teeth and gained a nasty wound to the right side of his face.”

“But he’s awake?”

“For now.”

“Well, can I see him?”

“Uh… _Ah-_ yeah, sure, go ahead.”

Michael moved past Bonnie after thanking her and made his way to where he knew KITT would be laid up. Back when the Foundation had reconstructed his face and make him into _Michael Knight_, he’d been in the same place.

Pushing open the door, he peered inside.

_“Michael,” _KITT croaked, managing to open his eyes slowly.

“Hey, bud!” Michael smiled, “How you holding up there?”

KITT pulled himself up onto his elbows, the sheets rustling as he did.

“Hey, don’t strain yourself,” Michael told him, taking a seat beside the bed.

“I won’t,” KITT replied.

“Listen, I… I’m sorry about what happened.”

“That’s quite alright.”

“No, I mean it. Even before then. When you first got this new body, you were so excited and happy, but I wasn’t. Something about you made me uneasy but instead of looking past it, it was all I could think of. We weren’t _working_ together and that’s why our mission failed. We coulda’ got that guy, KITT, I know we could.”

“Maybe so,” KITT shrugged, “We’ll get him next time.”

Michael ruffled his friend’s hair,

“Reckon we can, bud?”

“I’m certain of it,” KITT nodded, “Just as soon as I can run again we’ll get back out there,” and as he smiled, the gap where his teeth were missing showed.

The wind ruffled through the curtains, casting a quick breeze about the otherwise very warm room. The sheets made a crisp rustling noise that sounded like freshly-washed hotel linens and cleanliness. The whole air seemed peaceful and relaxed, like a relief from the chaos that had taken place just that night. Now the morning was bright and early and the day felt like a fresh start.

“Well,” Michael started, fixing a crease in the bed cover, “After you can get back on your feet, how about we go out for a little walk around the grounds? Then if you’re feeling up to it we could go down to a fancy place to get something to eat. No burgers. No grease. We could even bring Bonnie and Devon. Whaddya’ say, bud?”

KITT gave a weak smile and a soft chuckle,

“That sounds very pleasant,” he replied, “Thanks, pal.”


	6. In Recovery

The air outside was fresh and crisp, the sky was clear and the water of the fountain was flowing freely, creating an air of simple grandeur. FLAG HQ had a large garden around it, which made for a very out-of-the-way and peaceful place to walk.

After his short time indoors recovering, KITT was up on his feet again, even if it be with the aid of a pair of crutches. It was his first time walking in a good few days, and so Michael had decided to take him on a short walk around the grounds. Something about his human form still… _unnerved _him. But Michael could look past it.

“Feeling better?”

“Mostly.”

“You need a hand?”

“Michael, I am _very_ well aware of the method used to walk...I don’t need any help.”

Michael raised an eyebrow but let his friend go about shakily pulling himself along by his one good leg. It was strange seeing him physically struggle. Before, as a practically indestructible state-of-the-art vehicle, his voice would be shaky and he might lose a feature or two, but you could never see the hurt in his face. Now you could.

They both made their way slowly around the large pond fountain and didn’t say a word.

“Michael?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think we’ll ever be able to catch that felon? With me in this form?”

“Yeah, I’m sure we will,” Michael assured him, “We were _so_ close.”

“But I can’t assist you like I did before… I mean, I’m useless...” KITT sighed, wobbling on his crutches.

_“Woah, woah_, no you’re not, pal!” Michael retorted, surprised at this lapse in confidence, “No, without you I’d probably be dead right now. You saved my life back there, even if it meant risking your own.”

“I can’t help that, Michael, that’s how I was programmed. It’s an instinct.”

“KITT… you don’t _have_ programming like that any more. Bonnie wiped it when your AI got transferred so you could be more human. Your purpose right now… is to be a human. You saved me because you wanted to, not because your programming made you.”

KITT looked up to him and blinked slowly, taking in this new information.

“I… I did?” he swallowed.

Michael nodded,

“Absolutely. And I appreciate it.”

“You don’t think that this experiment was a monumental mistake?”

“Not yet, buddy. Not yet...”

They both carried on their walk in a brooding silence. Maybe it was a mistake… but it was sure turning out to be interesting.

“What did you do during your week off, Michael?” KITT eventually inquired.

“Ah, y’know, just some rock climbing. Fishing. That sort of thing.”

“Did you have fun?”

“...Yes. I think. Well, kinda’,” Michael replied with a shrug. In all reality, his holiday had been spoiled by the ever-present worrying about his friend, “What did you get up to during that time?”

“Mostly getting used to this new body. I had to learn to dance to calibrate my balance, and I did a lot of art to practice hand-eye co-ordination. But throughout that time, all I really desired to do was to get back to work again.”  
“Yeah… me too, bud.”  
“Michael?”

“Yes, KITT?”

“Would you take me out rock climbing sometime?”

“Of course, KITT. I think that’d be fun.”

***

The next few days moved slowly, dragging on like partially-crystallised honey dripping from a spoon. With KITT out of action for another fortnight, Michael was pretty much on his own on any mission he faced. On his lonesome, he didn’t have much on his side, so he had decided to miss out on anything large until his partner had healed.

At this very moment, Michael was wandering about wondering what to do.

In the lounge, in the light of the window, Bonnie sat reading a book. To her left was KITT, who had a large easel set up and was concentrating very hard on his current artwork.

“Picture perfect, pal,” Michael commended him, peering over his shoulder. The sketch of Bonnie might as well have been a photograph, it was so lifelike.

“Thank you, Michael,” KITT said, but he didn’t raise his eyes from the paper.

Michael leaned on the back of his shoulders for a bit, watching him work, before getting bored of that and moving on.

He would have gone out somewhere, but he’d visited all his favourite bars over the past few days and he’d embarked on as many physical activities as he could think of. He had also taken KITT out to a burger joint the day before yesterday, but it turned out that junk food wasn’t really KITT’s thing (must have been Devon’s fault). Michael did not want to take somebody out to eat if they would just refuse to eat anything, and besides, KITT seemed content staying at HQ and relaxing whilst he recovered.

“Oh, Michael, there you are!” came Devon’s voice as he approached from absolutely nowhere.

“Where else would I be?”

“Michael, I’ve just become aware of an issue over in LA involving a counterfeiter, and I was wondering if you might be able to go and take a look. We can arrange for a car to be prepared for you, or you could take KITT’s old body.”

“_’I’?_ You mean KITT wouldn’t be coming?”

“Well, he can’t, Michael – he’s still recovering. I thought you believed he was useless?”

Michael turned his head to look back to his friend, still seated at the easel.

KITT seemed to sense himself being watched as he slowly lowered his pencil, sat upright and gradually turned to make eye contact. He maintained this gaze for a good few seconds before Michael turned away.

“Sorry, Devon,” Michael sighed, “But I’m not going without him.”


	7. Teamwork

“Michael! Michael!”

“Hmm?”

Michael turned about to see KITT stood before him, grinning. His two gold teeth that replaced his missing ones shone distractingly in his smile.

“What is it, pal?”

“Do you notice anything different?”

Michael studied his face for a while, squinting. Nothing out of the ordinary, it seemed. Nothing about his body seemed at all different, either. What could possibly have changed? Thinking it was a trick question, Michael answered with a ‘no?’

“I have new glasses!” KITT told him, cheerily.

“Oh! Of course!”

“Bonnie just gave them to me. They have some of the same functions of my old scanner, only condensed into the lenses. Now I can identify bodies with a heat scan and check over vitals, too.”

“KITT, that’s great!” Michael smiled, putting his hands on his shoulders.

“Additionally, Bonnie says that I’m fully recovered and I can go out on missions again. So any time you want to head out and catch that thief, Michael, I’m ready to go!”

Slightly awkwardly, Michael gave a grin and dropped his hands from his friend’s shoulders.

“Are you sure you want to go back out there, pal?” He asked.

KITT seemed a touch confused, maybe even mildly offended at the idea that he wasn’t fit to go out. He fixed his glasses, which were slowly slipping down his sharp nose, and frowned.

“What do you mean, Michael?”

The bitterness in his voice was evident.

“No, it doesn’t matter, forget I said anything.”

Michael turned away and rubbed his hands together before making the decision to walk towards the back door.

KITT followed close behind.

“No, I want to talk about it.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Your heartbeat just went up.”

“Did it? Really?”

_“Michael!”_

“What?”

They both stopped walking when they reached the door.

“Is something wrong? Are you suggesting I’m… not ready to go back to work?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Because if you think I’m not strong enough, I am. Don’t let what happened make you think that I can’t still help you.”

“I didn’t say that either, KITT, buddy.”

KITT was silent, seemingly upset by something. He’d always been touchy, even in his old body, but now it was evident he was very conscious of his new vulnerability. He quickly licked his dry lips and looked expectantly up to his friend.

“I’m not saying that you’re not strong enough to go back to work, of course I’m not, Bonnie wouldn’t say that you were ready if you weren’t,” Michael assured him, gently, “I just want you to be safe, because last time was… well, it was a bit of a disaster. And I don’t want you getting hurt like that again.”

“So you don’t think that I’m useless?”

“No, of course not!”

“And you don’t want to replace me?”

“The thought never crossed my mind. We’re partners, aren’t we?”

KITT swallowed, shakily, and strained a smile.

“Yes,” he nodded, “Partners.”

Before they could continue their conversation, though, a voice from the next room called KITT’s name.

“That’ll be Bonnie,” KITT said. He briefly turned back to Michael but failed to say anything, and then he promptly left.

**♘**

“Teamwork, this time, OK, partner?”

“Absolutely.”

“Remember the plan?”

“Do you doubt the integrity of my memory, Michael?”

“’Course not,” Michael smiled, ruffling his friend’s hair, “Just making sure.”

“Please refrain from ruffling my hair,” KITT frowned, then turned his attention to outside the idling car, “When we enter the building, we split up. If you find anyone you’ll buzz me, and if I find anyone I’ll buzz you. Then one of us herds the suspect to the exit as the other waits outside by the door to intercept. I scan for danger and try and identify the suspect, you try and catch him. And it all depends on working as a team.”  
Michael gave a content smile and turned the car’s engine off. They had taken a different vehicle this time so that the criminal might not recognise them. Still, they parked in the darkest spot they could find.

KITT’s eyes flicked alertly to the office building ahead of them. He looked to have picked something up.

“Seen something, buddy?” Michael asked, leaning to his right to try and see where his friend was looking.

“Movement,” KITT replied, “Second to top floor, third window on the left.”

“Good job, KITT. Let’s go get ‘em.”

They both hopped out of the car at the same time and closed the doors in synchronisation before creeping their way towards the building.

After their last attempt at capturing this criminal had failed, they had concluded that it was due to the fact that they weren’t co-operating, and Michael had taken the blame for it. Bonnie hadn’t been happy with him, but then, she usually wasn’t. KITT had forgiven him rather quickly, which was rare for him, especially as he’d been severely injured. So they’d come up with this new operation together, basing it around what their strengths were and how they could co-operate to the fullest extent. It seemed like a great plan, but there was only one way to test it.

Michael hoped deep in his heart that nothing bad would happen, especially not to KITT, and not least because of what Bonnie might do and say.

They slipped soundlessly into the building and split up, both hoping for the best.


	8. Nicely Done

Missions without KITT’s old gadgets and abilities were a lot more long-winded now. It just wasn’t as easy to solve a mystery with no chemical analyser or image enhancer. Before, a simple voice projection could have scared a wanted criminal out of the building, but now they had none of that.

KITT was well aware of this.

He was just happy to have his scanner back if nothing else. He kept one finger over the button on the right arm of his glasses and periodically pressed it in to scan the area for any danger. Nothing had appeared yet.

He’d looked over a plan of the building back at FLAG HQ and assessed every exit route available. Now, he knew, if they managed to get their wanted man out of the room he was positioned in, there were only two routes to take out of the building. KITT stood poised between them, awaiting the buzz of the comlink so he knew where to dash to. He swallowed, nervously.

Ever since he was shot, he’d been very aware of his own fragility. Shakily, he placed a bony hand over his stomach. The wound had healed over since then, of course, and rather quickly at that. ‘Right as rain in no time’ Bonnie had said. She called him a tough cookie. If nothing else, it had proved the functionality of the artificial body to be faultless.

He hadn’t time to dwell on this any longer, however, as at that moment the comlink on his wrist bleeped twice, signalling that he should head for the left exit. It was good that the Foundation had been able to get him one so that he and Michael had a way of communicating – Bonnie had worked a lot during the recovery time to make sure that there was as much tech on hand as possible.

KITT started off down the hallway at a flying pace; if he wasn’t by the exit before Michael, that would make two failed missions (the only he’d been on since being in his new body), and the last thing he wanted was to fail two missions in a row.

The hallways of the office building were long and narrow with dusty yellowed wallpaper, sparsely furnished with filing cabinets and water coolers and carpeted with a shade of green KITT had grown to disfavour. Everything looked the same, making navigating the corridors that little bit harder.

As he sprinted, KITT heard a crashing from upstairs, yet didn’t stop to look back. Flashing a glance to the comlink, he checked to see if everything was alright.

Michael assured him in as few words as possible that it was. He sounded exhausted, which wasn’t surprising.

After what seemed like too long a time, KITT reached the left exit, where he ducked down to the ground, panting. As the thief neared the doorway, he was to shoot out from behind the wall and knock him down at the ankles. He only hoped his reflexes would serve him well.

As much as it was bad timing, he felt his mind drifting again. It had done that a lot recently. Was it part of being human, he wondered? Had Bonnie programmed that in or had he developed it of his own accord? He thought about what Devon and Bonnie would say if he and Michael returned today unsuccessful and it was all his fault. Their disappointed gaze drilled into his soul and it wasn’t even real. How would it feel to be told that it was too much of a risk to keep him in this body? That the whole thing had been a mistake and he’d let everyone down? He didn’t want to go through that AI transfer again, he’d only just begun to get comfortable. Was he really only useful as a bulletproof car with a bucketful of gizmos to match? He knew he had to prove himself wrong there.

Ripping him back to reality was the sound of rushed footsteps from through the doorway and he jumped to his senses, readying himself to pounce.

He waited for the last second, until he could hear the nearing panting breaths, before shooting out like a dagger and sweeping the thief off his feet (he then fell to the ground with a thud and within a fleeting second, Michael had him restrained).

KITT sat back on his elbows and took a breather, calming his thundering heart. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, leaving Michael to hold back their criminal.

They’d done it…. Actually done it… With the police on their way, it would be no time at all until KITT could return with his loyal partner to FLAG HQ.

He opened one eye and looked over to Michael, who seemed to sense the gaze on his back and looked over his shoulder to him.

“Nicely done,”he said.

“Couldn’t have done it without you,” Michael smiled back.

♘

The return to FLAG was a joyful one. KITT was brimming with confidence from the success of the mission and wore a bright grin on his slender face, his gold teeth glinting. He stuck close to Michael’s side until Bonnie appeared in the doorway and returned his smile.

“You’re back! How did it go!”

“It went _great!”_ Michael told her, proudly, “KITT did such a good job.”

Bonnie had a look on her face that said something along the lines of ‘of course he did, he always does a good job’, and she pulled KITT into her arms.

“Well, I only wish I could have been there to see you in action,” she told him, putting a hand on the back of his neck.

“The glasses worked _perfectly,_” KITT breathed behind her back, ever grateful for her engineering.

Michael folded his arms and gave a smirk,

“I think we made a pretty great team!” He said.


	9. White Noise

Humming like white noise, the traffic rolled by the mostly-empty take-out parking lot. Their headlights flashed as they passed, the street lights cast beacons of warm glow at regular intervals down the street, and the neon sign to the take-out gave off its own pink gleam, reflecting off the small selection of parked cars. One of which was a sleek, black Trans Am.

Atop the long bonnet of the Pontiac lay two figures, backs against the windscreen and feet dangling lazily over the nose of the car.

Michael stared up to the night sky, where the sparse stars twinkled, mesmerising. He hadn’t spoken a word in a good ten minutes, and neither had KITT, who was laid out beside him. He absent-mindedly tapped an empty coffee cup on the car’s bonnet and prepared his mouth to finally break the silence

“Pretty relaxing, huh, KITT?”

KITT gave but a hum in agreement. He was either entranced by the stars or just rather bored.

“Something bothering you, pal?”

“No, Michael, I’m quite fine,” KITT replied. In actuality, he was still a tad disoriented from the journey here in his old body, and sitting on it wasn’t much better. He was currently wrapped up snugly in Michael’s leather jacket, though it was a touch too large on him. He readjusted his positioning briefly and let his eyes partially close in thought.

“You really think we’re still a good team?”

Although he didn’t turn to look at him, KITT could tell that Michael had changed his expression to a slightly confused squint.

“Yeah, course I do,” he affirmed with a serious nod, “What makes you ask?”

“Nothing, really,” KITT shrugged, pausing a second before continuing, “But when you look at me, what do you see?”

“I… What do you mean?”

“Do you see a cyborg? An AI? A car in a humanoid body? What do I look like?”

“Well, you look… You just look like KITT.”

“I get the feeling you don’t really want to answer this question.”

“That might be because I’m not entirely sure what the question is,” Michael replied, finally turning his head and studying his friend carefully, “You just look like you to me.”

“But who is that?”

“...What brought on _this_ crisis?”

“Michael, all I’m asking is this: I look like a human outwardly, but am I a _person _to _you_?”

Michael decided he was too tired for this conversation but he carried on regardless,

“Yes, you’re a... person,” he nodded, hoping that this was the right answer, “Look, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; what matters is who you are, not what you look like. You’re always gonna look like you, as far as I’m concerned, whether you’re a black Trans Am or a tiny TV or whatever you happen to be.”

KITT smiled, contently, clearly pleased by this response.

“Thank you, Michael.”

“No problem, buddy.”

They stayed silent a while longer, the only noise the rushing traffic. The vibe of the environment was almost… uncanny, in a way. As if the lines between reality and dream were blurred, not enough to make you genuinely question if you were fictitious, but enough to consider it and be pretty much OK with it. The sounds of the traffic were nothing but a dull blur of noise, like an air conditioner whirring in a silent hotel room, and the atmosphere felt both warm and chilly at the same time, almost vacuum-like.

Not a word was spoken for a good while, until KITT’s voice finally broke the broth of silence.

“I only mentioned it because-” he started, but was promptly interrupted:

“-KITT.”

“Yes, Michael?”

“Shut up.”

END


	10. Part 2 - Long Lost Foe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve decided that this fic can be a series of little stories including Cyborg KITT. It seems people are enjoying it so I hope you’ll enjoy this second story here just as much!  
Thank you for your encouraging reviews.
> 
> ~Fever

Part 2: Recrudescence

  
FLAG HQ had always been a quiet and composed place. Its walls housed an atmosphere of luxury and tranquillity unlike any other in the state. The trees surrounding it and the long drive to the front gates secluded it from the hustle and bustle of the outside world, and once within its serene boundaries, everything seemed to come to a standstill.

On the average day on which the Foundation had to mysteries to solve, nor criminals to pursue, Devon Miles could usually be found in his office, pondering over papers, making important phone calls and elegantly sipping tea from a fine China teacup (of which the value was too high to mention without wincing).

Sounds of Vivaldi or Mozart softly played through the halls, filling the house with a decidedly cultured air.

If he wasn’t out and about socialising in the nearby towns, climbing rocks or sticking his head into places he shouldn’t be, Michael Knight would be keeping himself to himself. Even after four years, he still hadn’t become accustomed to the classy nature of the Foundation, and so his days at HQ would be spent in an area in which he could not hear Mozart’s Symphony 40 in G Minor reverberating through the walls. Recently, since KITT had been humanised (mostly) and finally granted access to the house, they’d spend a touch more time together.

Michael had, at first, taken a great measure of amusement at watching his friend explore different features of the place, and had spent a while showing him inside all his favourite places around the state, but now the novelty had begun to wear off.

It had been two months now since KITT had taken on his new body. He’d intended to return to automotive form sooner than this, but Michael had said that he ‘wasn’t so bad at all’ and that he could ‘stick around a little longer’. Nobody knew what Michael’s rendition of ‘a little longer’ implied, and to be perfectly honest, Michael probably didn’t, either. Could be a month. Could be years. KITT didn’t mind. It meant he could spend more time with his friends, and to him, that was all that really mattered.

At this particular point in time, he was spending his evening with Bonnie, in her office. He enjoyed keeping her company as she worked, and he made sure to remain quiet so as not to distract her, instead keeping his nose buried in a book.

Through the open doorway came distant sounds of music from down the hall, and outside, the rain spattered against the window, occasionally accompanied by a roll of thunder. Though KITT wasn’t too keen on thunder, the soft sound of Bonnie’s steady typing kept him placid as he sat contently on the carpet.  
Feeling his eyelids start to drop, he slid a gold-plated bookmark between the pages of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Final Problem and closed the cover gently.

“Tired?” Came Bonnie’s voice, but she didn’t turn around to look at him.

“Rather,” KITT replied, stretching his arms out in front of him and giving a small yawn.

“You’d better get to bed. It’s going to be a hectic day tomorrow.”

Briefly forgetting what she was referring to, KITT tilted his head to the side and squinted slightly.

Sensing his confusion, Bonnie finally turned her chair around to face him and swept a pen off her desk as she did so that she had something to fiddle with in her hand.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”  
Upon receiving no answer, she continued.

“Well, you must be tired. RC, remember? Back from his visit to his old  
neighbourhood?”

KITT made a face of recollection, sitting back once more and nodding his head  
upwards. He had to agree, he was quite bleary. With all that had gone on as of late, he had completely forgotten that RC was due back from his three-month-long break (what Michael wouldn’t do for a vacation like that...).

“No doubt he’ll be wildly excited to see us all again,” Bonnie went on, “And he’ll probably want to tell us every detail of his trip...” she paused as a realisation happened upon her, “And he’s going to be very surprised to see you standing on your very own pair of feet...”

KITT flashed a smile as he imagined what RC would do when he saw him for the first time, not as a sleek black Pontiac, but as an admittedly rather striking cyborg.

“How do you think he’ll react?” he hummed, savouring the thought.

“I don’t know, KITT...” Bonnie chuckled softly, twirling her pen in between her fingers, “Only one way to find out and that’s to wait for tomorrow. Now, you...” (here she crossed her legs, raised her elbow and waved the tip of the pen towards the doorway) “...To bed.”

Giving a reluctant sigh, KITT picked himself off the floor, book in hand. He gave his mechanic a brief goodnight hug before he drifted out of the room like a willowy shadow. Bonnie was once again left in her own company. As she continued to toy with the  
ballpoint, her gaze favoured the empty doorway a few beats longer.  
Eventually turning her attention back to her work, her sights rested once more on  
the plans upon her screen, and she frowned.  
♘


	11. RC3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I forgot to mention this last chapter but I have an Instagram art account where I have posted what I imagined KITT to look like in his cyborg form. I also post quite a lot of the rest of the FLAG crew (and characters from other franchises). You can find me at @fever.sheep - it would mean a lot if you could drop by and check it out if you're able!

The bright sun shone down on the driveway to the Foundation that morning, in stark contrast to the night before. At the front of the building, the red Mercedes was parked up neatly, and beside it stood Michael and Devon, waiting patiently. Devon was dressed in his usual smart attire, and Michael had gone for a light tweed jacket, clearly trying to make an effort.

Soon, the sounds of the birds chirruping and the trees rustling were broken by the angry growl of a motorcycle engine.

RC’s motorcycle, specifically, coming up the road at an enthusiastic speed.

Devon shot a glance to Michael as if to say ‘here we go...’ but Michael didn’t return it, just looked out expectantly for the bike… Within seconds, it rolled into view.

RC’s helmet glinted in the 10am sunlight and he gave an elated wave as he rode into the driveway, performing a quick wheelie to show off. When he had skidded to a halt right in front of his two friends, he excitedly clambered off the bike, pulled off his helmet and left it on the seat. He greeted Devon with a rough handshake and Michael with a hearty slap on the arm (and a ‘Michael, my man!’).

“How was your trip, Reginald?” Devon enquired after greetings were exchanged and he’d had a chance to recover from the boisterous nature of the handshake.

“Oh, it was sweet, boss! I’ll tell you guys all about it later!” RC grinned, but then turned to look around confusedly, “Hey, where are KITT and Bonnie?”

Devon and Michael exchanged a glance.

“Come on inside, Reginald. There’s someone you must meet,” Devon instructed, leading the way back inside the house.

Confusedly, RC followed with Michael trailing after him.

“Nothing bad’s happened, has it, boss?” he asked, concerned.

“That might be a matter of opinion,” Michael replied.

♘

Before long, RC was seated comfortably on the sofa in Devon’s office with a mug of coffee and a mildly nervous look on his face. He was waiting, though internally impatient, for Michael to return to the room and break the silence between himself and Devon.

Thankfully, that soon happened, and Michael reappeared looking a tad fidgety and nervy.

“They’re coming,” he said, blankly, rubbing his palms together restlessly.

Quiet footsteps approached the room, two sets of them, and after a few seconds, the face of Bonnie Barstow appeared around the doorway.

“Hey!” she smiled, clearly hiding something behind her back.

“Hey, Bonnie, what’s going on?” RC asked, made increasingly curious by the secretiveness.

Bonnie admitted the only way to explain it was to show and not tell, so she stepped into the room, leading KITT by the hand behind her.

“RC. This is KITT.”

RC stared for a good minute, studying this elegant figure set in front of him. He didn’t say a word. In fact, nobody did, until he rose from his seat and slowly approached KITT.

“KITT?” he repeated, still sounding sceptical.

“Hello, RC,” KITT replied in his usual refined tone. He was dressed in his favourite red polo-neck shirt (much like one that Michael owned), which had a Pontiac logo sewn onto the right breast. It clung to him quite tightly, and the looser black trousers made his legs look long and lissom. He let go of Bonnie’s hand when RC came towards him and flashed a smile.

“He-hey! It really is you!” RC grinned, giving him a rough hug and a slap on the back that knocked the air out of him. Then, he turned to Bonnie, Devon and Michael, “How did you..?” he started.

“Bonnie’s work,” Michael responded, smiling happily, relieved that the tension in the room had disappeared.

Bonnie gave a humble smile, modestly shook her head and slid her hands into her pockets,

“It was just a simple AI transfer,” she told RC, gently, “Nothing impressive. He’s a cyborg – half organic and half artificial – so he’s not as invulnerable as he was when he was in the car.”

“We’ve been out on a few missions since and he’s still as great as ever!” Michael put in, proudly.

“It’s nothing permanent,” Bonnie finished, shooting a look to Devon as she spoke. She didn’t look at all happy about something, and Devon didn’t smile, either, “And the car is still usable.”

“Wo-hoah! We’re gonna’ have so much fun while you’re human, KITT, my dude!” RC laughed, clearly very excited. Too excited to notice the coldness of Bonnie’s stare to Devon.

“If you say so!” KITT replied, fixing his shirt and sounding a bit nervous. No doubt he would end up on the back of the motorcycle sometime. He’d also picked up on Bonnie’s irritated mannerism, and made a mental note to ask her about it later. For now, though, by the look on RC’s face, he had a lot of technical explaining to do. And a whole lot of listening.


	12. A Foe

It was that night when KITT finally pulled himself together to ask Bonnie what was going on. He slipped out of his room at 1am and slithered down the hall to her office. Often times she stayed overnight if there was work to be done, and tonight there was. She was always sleepless, working hard until her hands were sore and her eyes were dry, and this time was no different.

RC was asleep by this time, Devon too, probably, and Michael was either asleep or in the kitchen drinking milk straight from the bottle. In any case, he wasn’t in the immediate vicinity.

KITT gently knocked on the office door, his heart fluttering.

“Who is it?” Came the tired voice from inside.

“KITT.”

“Come in, then.”

KITT cautiously pushed open the door and slipped inside, rubbing his hands together. He kept reciting what he was going to say over and over again in his head… he wasn’t sure what he dreaded more – the asking or the answer.

Bonnie’s hair fell in waves down her back, lying not quite as neat as usual. She kept her back turned as she haphazardly went about filling in forms and correcting mistakes on printouts. She was clearly tired – drained, even – despite how cheery she’d acted during the day.

“Can I ask you a question?” KITT put in, still standing with his hands clasped together as if trying to contain a small frog, “Is something wrong?”

Immediately dropping all she was doing, Bonnie turned her attention to him, spinning her chair round and folding her legs. She looked pale. Paler than normal anyway.

“Why would something be wrong?”

“You… seemed annoyed with Devon. I know it’s probably none of my business, but… why aren’t you two speaking?”

Bonnie stayed silent a little bit longer, channelling all her nervous energy into clicking her pen in her hand, as she wondered what to say. Thinking about whether it was worth it… or whether it was a subject best saved for the morning.

“There was a slight disagreement over something,” she replied eventually.

KITT sat down on the carpet.

“What regarding?”

“A… About… Regarding...”

“Bad question?”

“Kind of, KITT. Listen, I… I don’t think you’ll like it if I tell you.”

“Is it about me?”  
“Not _quite_.”

“Someone I know?”

“Yes.”

“A friend?”

“Absolutely not.”

“A foe.”

“More along those lines.”  
KITT wondered what enemies he had, but he couldn’t really think of any besides KARR and Goliath, and _they _couldn’t do much, so why worry about them?

“Garthe?”

Bonnie shook her head.

“Tell me.”

“I don’t want you to panic.”

“I won’t.”

“Promise me you’ll stay calm. I hate the idea just as much as you’ll do, I assure you.”

“I promise,” KITT agreed, becoming increasingly uneasy.

Bonnie took in a deep breath, rubbing her eyes for a second, looking a bit sick. It was clear she didn’t want to share this ‘idea’ that she hated so much, and especially not to KITT.

“It’s… KARR,” she said, eventually, and saw the look on KITT’s face shift from nervous to absolutely panic-stricken.

“KARR??” he repeated, voice wobbling a tad.

“Keep calm, I’ll explain… Since… you’re not in control of the car any more,_ Devon_ thought we might need an extra CPU to take on that body. The Knight 2000 is an invaluable asset to FLAG, and we don’t know how long its features are going to be unavailable. It’s still usable as a shell, but it might be too risky to keep it that way for too long if you stick around as you are.”

“I thought I was still useful in my_ new_ body...”

Bonnie moved to join him on the floor, sitting opposite him.

“You are,” she assured him, “But if this is permanent, or even semi-permanent, it still might be useful to have… another CPU… for the car.”

“And how does KARR tie in to all this?” KITT frowned.

“Well, even though ‘KARR’ was destroyed, his AI is still out there somewhere. Salvageable. If we could bring it back to FLAG, Devon proposed it might be possible to…_ retrain _him.”

“What???”

“To teach him how to be – if you’ll pardon the bromidic expression - ‘good’.”

“I’m not going through another battle with KARR! I _can’t! _I thought we’d disposed of him once and for all, Michael and I made that very certain. You can’t just bring him back, willingly at that!”

“I know, I know… I don’t like it either.”

“KARR set loose in my old body would be chaos! If we need a CPU for the car, I’ll go back.”

“I suggested that. But it seems that reforming KARR might be less risky than leaving his motherboard out there where it can be found and picked up by anybody. The thing is, reassembling his old body – or, as you said, letting him use yours straight away – would be a terrible decision. So Devon proposed a more… containable form.”  
“Which is???”

“A… Well...”

Bonnie waved her hands a second, grasping for the right word to use that wouldn’t spark anything.

“Well, a cyborg like you,” she finally concluded.

KITT looked visibly terrified and moved to stand, but before he could get to his feet he was pulled back down again.

“You said you wouldn’t panic,” Bonnie reminded him in a hushed voice, holding his shoulders, which seemed to pacify him, “Listen, I’m working on some foolproof ideas. KARR’s basic programming, in theory, could be… unlearned. Weighing the pros and cons, if it doesn’t work out, we can have him locked away in a high-security prison for good.”

“You say ‘doesn’t’ like it’s definitely going to happen,” KITT swallowed, nervously.

Bonnie stayed silent, the hot August night suddenly feeling a lot heavier.

“Does Michael know?” KITT asked.

“Not yet. We were planning on discussing it tomorrow with you, him and RC. If they both don’t want to do it, it won’t happen, but as it is, I’m not much good trying to argue against Devon alone. If Michael and RC want to go through with it, it’s just going to have to happen, I’m afraid,” Bonnie told him, in a grim tone.

KITT swallowed once, feeling a bit dizzy, his heart rattling inside his chest. Revivng KARR was the worst idea he’d heard since ice cream on toast. His only comfort was the knowledge that Michael would probably protest the idea tomorrow, too. But if he didn’t… he supposed he’d just have to prepare for pandemonium.


	13. In the Right Hands

RC was seated on the arm of the sofa, displaying a selection of emotions on his face as varied as the types of meat contained in a dodgy takeaway doner kebab.

Michael had perched himself on the back of the chair, holding his hands clasped between his knees as he chewed the inside of his mouth in thought.

Bonnie and KITT both stood, arms folded, waiting, frowning.

Devon faced them all.

“Well? What do you think?” he urged, awaiting the FLAG crew’s response.

Everybody was quiet, either still thinking or not wanting to answer the question.

“Reginald?” Devon began, turning to him, singling him out, “What do you think?”

RC shrugged, as if the matter wasn’t as important as it was,

“Doesn’t sound bad to me, boss. I’m always up for a challenge,” he replied in a nonchalant tone. Considering his personality, it wasn’t surprising that he was taking the idea in such a cool way.

“Michael?” Devon hummed.

Michael looked up to him slowly, almost a guilty look on his face. KITT had spoken to him as much as he could that morning, trying to convince him that this whole thing was a terrible idea, but after having heard both the pros and the cons, he wasn’t really sure who to side with any more. He unclasped his hands briefly before clapping them together again.

“If KITT’s happy with it, I say go for it,” he said. Although he’d never wanted to encounter the likes of KARR again, he had to admit that his motherboard being out in the open where it could fall into the wrong hands wasn’t the best situation either. Of course, they could just take the bits and pieces of what was left and throw them in a very secure place, but upon a bit of further reflection, maybe helping KARR would buy his favour with the Foundation.

“Bonnie?”

“I think you already know my opinion on the matter, Devon,” Bonnie replied, straight-faced.

Devon did indeed know her opinion on the matter, so instead he turned to KITT.

KITT stated that he was an asset of FLAG and that he would do whatever was decided, but that he thought the idea was very uncomfortable for him and that, ideally, he would rather not go ahead with it. He would have protested stronger, but he knew that – even though he looked human – he still belonged to the Foundation.

The room fell silent, the only noise being the ticking of the clock and everybody’s hushed breathing.

KITT cast a quick glance to Bonnie, and she looked back to him with the same knowing air. It seemed that they had lost the debate. Nothing could be done on their part now except go along with the plan and hope for the best.

♘

A week passed before any action was made regarding retrieving KARR’s motherboard, but when the time was right, KITT and Michael had ventured out (accompanied by RC) to attempt to track it down. KITT was the only one who didn’t particularly approve of what they were doing, but he still went along with it.

It had taken a good lot of time before they finally found the CPU and returned to the Foundation victorious. They were told that Bonnie had already finished KARR’s humanoid design, and that it was in the process of being realized. Despite this speedy progress, Bonnie still didn’t seem too excited, and who could blame her? She’d always been protective of KITT, even as a car, and she didn’t consider it a fabulous idea to willingly put him in a situation where his arch enemy could harm him.

Nevertheless, within a month, KARR’s new body was ready for the AI transfer.

None of the FLAG gang were allowed to see him except Bonnie and Devon during the calibration period. Devon would check in often and report back to the others with developments. According to him, KARR was rather angry and rowdy, but had been restrained to avoid injury to himself and/or others. As soon as he’d calmed down, the process of getting him onto his feet and walking could begin.

Bonnie didn’t talk much about what was going on in the KARR department, but once she came back from the laboratory with a bruise over her eye, and twice with a sprained wrist. She didn’t explain how she acquired these injuries, just made herself some tea and went to sleep on whichever couch was nearest.

Although Michael was tense about KARR’s reveal, and nervous about how life at FLAG would change from that point, perhaps KITT was the most troubled of everyone at the Foundation. Naturally so, as it was him who KARR would most likely target and channel his frustration towards.

Michael had taught him some basic self-defence techniques, sensing his unease, but assured him that accidents would be kept to a strict minimum.

KITT did not trust him regarding that in the slightest.

It took a month and a half until anybody was allowed to see KARR himself, and naturally Michael was the first to meet him. He had to admit he was a little bit nervous as Bonnie showed him into the lab, and laying eyes on KARR didn’t calm him in the slightest.

KARR was seated on a tall stool at the end of the room, elbows on knees and chin resting upon clasped hands. He looked similar to KITT but not quite enough to be mistaken for him. His build was slightly more muscular, his hair a touch shorter and his face more rugged and hollow. He boasted some quite impressive cheekbones and dramatic orangish eyes, the right of which had a long scar over it.

Michael made uneasy eye contact with KARR as he looked him up and down with a judgemental stare, undoubtedly recalling their last encounter.

_“Michael Knight...”_ KARR hummed, thoughtfully, his back hunched over slightly. He looked about ready to strike out at any second. Every second he stayed seated came as a slight surprise, “Just as I remembered you... Where’s KITT?”

“At the Foundation. You’ll be able to meet him very soon.”

“Good. It wouldn’t be the same with only one of you here to nettle me.”

“I’m sorry about what happened, KARR,” Michael replied, trying to maybe win his favour. Although he was a good 6 inches taller than KARR, he felt strangely intimidated, “...It had to be done.”

“Did it..?” (This was not spoken like a question, as clearly KARR did not want an answer), “I was under the impression that you… _wanted _to destroy me….”

“It was a last resort. It was all we could do at that point, for the greater good. But this is a second chance for us to… reconcile.”

No response.

Michael cast a glance to Bonnie beside him, looking somehow even more bleary and bloodless than usual. She kept her eyes firmly trained on the cyborg, clearly on guard. From how she’d been acting recently, it would be reasonable to conclude that KARR had lashed out before.

After another half a minute of silence, Michael bid KARR goodbye and left the lab with Bonnie in tow.

_ “The scar?” _he whispered as they headed back to where KITT, RC and Devon would doubtless be eagerly awaiting their return.

“He did that to himself,” Bonnie explained, tiredly, “At first, he had to be restrained, and he really didn’t like it. We had to struggle to get some handcuffs on him. Thankfully he’s calmed down a bit since then. Still, it’s best to keep an eye on him.”

“May I ask why you made him physically stronger than KITT? won’t that just lead to more issues?”

“If he and KITT were exactly the same, there would be competition. I thought making him stronger would help to convince KARR that he didn’t have to fight KITT to prove who was… ‘superior’... or whatever.”

“You reckon he’ll still try to fight KITT?”

“Unfortunately, probably. There’s not much I can really do about that. Even if KARR promises not to harm him, how do I know he’s not lying? We’re just going to have to wait and see what happens. He may be more powerful than KITT, but KITT is more durable. If we’re careful, we can keep harm to both of them to a minimum.”

Michael nodded in understanding and slipped his hands into his pockets,

“So you think we can turn KARR good?”

“I never said that.”  
  



	14. Day Five

“Observe how weak and feeble your body is compared to mine, KITT.”

“That’s very nice, KARR...”

“Why your technician decided to give you such a flimsy form I may never understand,” KARR announced, proudly, as he continued to lift the dumbbells he had found, “Perhaps she made a mistake.”

KITT found himself unintelligibly offended at this remark and he raised his eyes to look up to KARR from where he was sitting on the couch.

“Bonnie doesn’t make mistakes,” he answered, “Not like that, not in the engineering sense. She’s very good at her job.”

“Of course she makes mistakes – she made _you._”

“_Hey!”_ KITT snapped, lurching forwards, but before he could get to his feet, Michael’s hand pulled him back down.

“Stop arguing, children...” Michael sighed. He was thoroughly absorbed in a newspaper and had a pair of reading glasses perched neatly on his nose. He didn’t break his gaze from the paper, therefore didn’t notice KARR’s obnoxiously self-satisfied smirk, “KARR, why don’t you go and find a crossword to do instead of bothering KITT?” he suggested, sensing the smugness.

Although he then left the room, it was plain to see that KARR was not, in fact, going to find a crossword, rather he was going to locate somebody else to trouble. Probably Devon.

“Michael, how much longer does he have to be here?” KITT muttered, rubbing his temples.

“As long as it takes to reform him,” Michael replied, finally folding the paper, “Months, maybe.”

“_Oh, goodness me_...”

“Look on the bright side, at least he hasn’t attacked you.”

“Yet...” came another voice from the doorway: Bonnie, with her hands placed firmly on her narrow waist. She stepped into the room in a bored, wandering manner, “…If we go through this whole thing without any ‘accidents’, I will down a shot-glass of battery acid.”

“I believe that may kill you,” KITT replied.

“We’ll just have to wait and see. Hey, aren’t you supposed to be working?” Michael put in, peering over the top of his glasses.

“I _should,” _Bonnie nodded, a tired expression on her wan face, “But _somebody _cut all the computer cables...”

By the noise of KITT’s breath, he was thoroughly fed up of KARR already, and it had only been two days since he had been let into the Foundation house. In those two days, he had snapped the mirrors off RC’s motorcycle, broken Devon’s favourite china tea set, pushed Michael into the fountain twice, and now he’d cut all the computer wires. He’d also stolen all KITT’s left shoes, so that he didn’t have any matching pairs. Where he hid all the left shoes, goodness only knows. Clearly, KARR wasn’t so happy with the Foundation’s decision to make him humanoid and was now determined to make their lives as miserable as he could.

Michael had thought that KARR would have been more physically violent towards both him and KITT, but he’d been surprisingly tame. So long as he kept away from any bodies of water, Michael found, he was relatively safe. Still, he had to admit that Bonnie was probably right.

“He won’t go after KITT as long as I’m here,” Michael said, taking his glasses off, “He knows he can’t take both of us at the same time.”

“Just don’t take your eyes off KITT, then, whatever you do,” Bonnie frowned, wishing she could just make some sort of force field to put around KITT so as to avoid any mishaps. She’d paced around in a circle three times by now and now stopped on her fourth lap to rub her eyes, “I’m going to go and lie down somewhere very dark with at least two locks on the door.”

As soon as she had stepped foot back out of the doorway, she was confronted with the sight of KARR in the room opposite, holding a box of matches and regarding the costly leather-bound encyclopedia on the mantelpiece with intent.

_“Make that three locks...” _Bonnie mumbled to herself before drifting upstairs like a ghost, and looking a bit like one, too.

♘

Day five.

The number of times where Michael had been pushed into a large body of water had since risen to three.

Devon, too, was becoming increasingly bothered by KARR’s disturbances. Having mourned the demise of another tea service and a Ming vase, he had made it a rule that if KARR broke anything else of significance, he be confined to the laboratory. That had kept him out of the office so far, but had only made it so that now KARR had to find other things to do to be a nuisance.

RC had expressed a strong desire to return to his hometown once more, where, he said, he and his bike would be out of harm’s way.

Using Michael as a bodyguard had proved an effective tactic for KITT, but still, that meant that night-times and any other times they were separated were even more dangerous.

On this particular hot August night, KITT and KARR were both downstairs in the kitchen, having yet another quarrel.

Michael, a floor above, with his face buried in his pillow, had listened to them argue for a good half hour now, though hardly any of their words were decipherable through the floor. All he really wanted was some quiet. He had been downstairs to try and break up the fight once and didn’t intend to do it again in his half-asleep state, so he blocked out the noise with the use of another pillow, trusting in the self-defence techniques he’d taught his friend, and tried to get some rest.

What he didn’t hear, as he drifted into unconsciousness, was the rattle of one of the kitchen drawers being hastily tugged open. He didn’t hear KARR shouting even louder than before. And he sure didn’t hear KITT’s startled and pained yelp.

Five minutes later, Bonnie awoke woozily to a pressure on the side of the mattress.

Straining to open her eyes, she saw a gaunt hand leaning on the covers beside her face, and followed the arm upwards to identify a slender shadow shakily standing by the bedside.

“K...KITT?” Bonnie breathed, willing her eyes to adjust to the dark.

As her vision became sharper, she saw that the shadow was, indeed, KITT. His chest was rising and falling in a worryingly uneven rhythm and he held his right hand over his left shoulder. Some sort of black object stuck out through the gaps in his fingers.

“Bonnie...” came KITT’s voice, his sharp green eyes meeting hers with the same startled stare she was giving him, “...Help me.”


	15. Crime-scene Cleanup

“What happened???” Bonnie yelped, throwing her bedsheets off and hurriedly switching on the lamp on the side table.

KITT fell down to his knees at the bedside, still clutching his shoulder, breathing stuttered.

“KARR stabbed me,” he said, shakily.

“I can see that much-” Bonnie responded, trembling herself, as she wondered what to do. She wasn’t a surgeon, but KITT wasn’t fully human, either. She knew how he worked, so should she treat him here or would calling an ambulance be a better idea? Maybe she could locate the Foundation’s doctor, but by then it might be a touch too late, or perhaps the methods used in treating stab wounds on people wouldn’t be effective on a cyborg… No, she would have to treat him herself.

“Okay, uh, sit yourself down I’ll get you patched up, don’t worry...” she said, calmingly. She had a pleasantly deep voice when she was tired, and her slightly raspy tone was somehow soothing.

As KITT was still a CPU, his physical body dying wouldn’t kill him. But still, he’d be in a great deal of pain from the knife and it would be preferable to keep his body as good as new, so it was top priority to get him healed ASAP.

After tying her hair back to keep it out of her face, Bonnie retrieved a first-aid kit from under the bed and consulted its contents with rickety fingers, her heart still clattering. All her actions seemed to go in a blur as she went through the motions of gently removing the knife and then dealing with the small matter of stopping the bleeding.

Thankfully, KITT bled a lot less than a human would, and it was containable, with the use of a few large gauzes.

Neither KITT nor his doctor spoke a word to each other during this until they were both sat cross-legged on the floor, Bonnie’s hand firmly holding a sterile gauze over her patient’s shoulder. She raised her eyes slowly to meet KITT’s gaze and as her vision regained some clarity and her head stopped being fuzzy, she saw the glitter of teardrops down his cheeks.

_“Are you okay?”_

KITT nodded in affirmation, but both of them knew that he wasn’t okay at all. And not just because he’d been stabbed, although that was probably the largest contributor.

“Listen, if things continue like this… I’m not letting it happen.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” KITT asked with a wince as he felt Bonnie’s hand tremble and the gauze catch on his wound.

“It means I’ll have a word with Devon and if he doesn’t see my point I’ll have to deactivate KARR myself before I begin my descent into mad scientist.”

“You can’t do that.”

Bonnie’s eyes finally averted from patching the wound and shot up to meet KITT’s gaze, which she held in silence for a while. Her pupils seemed to shiver in restless agitation. Finally, she dropped her hand and heaved a loud sigh.

_“Yeah, you’re right...” _she muttered, toying with the bloodied gauze in her fingers. She kept her silence a while longer before moving to cut a bandage, which she strategically wrapped around her patient’s shoulder.

“Thank you...” KITT breathed, keeping his head down.

“I can go down if you want.”

“Pardon?”

“Downstairs. Give KARR a piece of my mind.”

“No. If we push him he’ll do something worse.”

“...Right again...” Bonnie sighed, putting her forehead on the palm of her hand. She felt KITT’s hand rest on the side of her neck as an assurance that they were in this together,

“...I just don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“Tomorrow we’ll tell Michael. Then RC and Devon. But until then you need some rest.”

_“I _need some rest? You were the one who got stabbed!”

“Have you _seen _yourself? You get some sleep and I’ll stay awake until the morning.”

“What?”

“Well I can’t exactly go to sleep and give KARR an opportunity to strike again, can I? Where am I supposed to go?”

“The… The guest house down the garden. I’ll walk you down,” Bonnie told him, shakily getting to her feet as her joints loudly proclaimed their disapproval, “Get your coat, it’s cold outside.”

♘

Michael Knight sat peacefully at the dining table that next morning, bright and early, with a mug of coffee and a newspaper. The sun streamed in through the open patio doors, casting its rays down the table and showing up the steam drifting steadily up from the coffee cup. The warm aroma of the caffeine filled the air, met with the pleasantly bitter smell of ink from the newspaper warming in the sun.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Michael turned away from the paper and to whoever had decided to join him. His initial smile upon seeing soon fell like a poorly constructed brick wall.

“Wow, Bon, you look like death warmed up… maybe not even warmed up,” he observed, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Hardly,” Bonnie replied, looking like the complete opposite of her name. She tied the belt of her dressing gown tighter around her thin waist and rubbed the bridge of her nose, her finger finding the scratch that ran across it.

“What’s wrong?” Michael asked, met with concern, and completely abandoned his paper and drink, which met the table with a heavy clunk, “Would you like me to make you a coffee? Nice and hot, wakes ya up. You look like you need it.”

“I couldn’t possibly stomach it.”

“What _happened _in the night? And where’s KITT? I haven’t seen him this morning, I assumed he was with you.”

“He’s at the guest house down the garden,” Bonnie swallowed as Michael took her shoulders in his large, soft hands.

“Why?” he started, but after meeting his friend’s half-dead gaze he decided she probably didn’t wish to speak of it, “I’ll get him,” he told her, “He’ll be wanting his breakfast. And you should eat, too.”

“I told you… I couldn’t possibly,” Bonnie replied, watching for a second as Michael grabbed his leather jacket from the coat stand. She then chewed the inside of her cheeks for a few seconds, shook her head and turned to leave.

Michael left seconds later, disappearing out of the patio doors with as much enthusiasm as a child who had just been told there was an ice cream truck outside. Where he got his energy was one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries, right beside Jack the Ripper.

He pulled his collar up against his neck and made his way down to the little cottage, wondering why KITT had decided to spend the night there. The leaves on the ground crunched beneath his feet, which reminded him of warm buttered toast, which made him wonder whether he should have brought some along.

He gave a cheery wave to the gardener as he passed, but his good mood would soon be undoubtedly spoiled when his closest pal told him what had happened last night.


	16. Intervention

The FLAG guest house was a modestly small building set in a patch of atmospheric trees. Michael’s childhood hero, an explorer by the name of Charlie Granger, had once been murdered inside. It hadn’t been used for a good while after that, understandably. Nobody wants to sleep in the room where a man was murdered. Michael didn’t much care for visiting the place, either, which only made the mystery of why KITT would willingly spend the night there just that much more curious.

Accompanied by a rather loud knock on the door, Michael called out a good morning, awaiting a response from inside. When he got none even after a second call, he dug the spare key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

The room was cosy, if rather dark, and decorated with many paintings and statues. The walls were panelled with wood and to the left of the door there was a stone fireplace, currently unlit. A small curtain on the inside of the door blew slightly as Michael closed it behind him and wiped his shoes on the mat.

“KITT?” he called once more as he made his way to the bedroom like a tall and gawky shadow.

He found his buddy curled up in bed, and as the floorboards creaked underfoot KITT stirred and lifted his head.

“Good morning, pal,” Michael smiled, approaching slowly, “What are ‘ya doing in here?”

It was then his eye caught the bandaged shoulder and his heart dropped like a ton of bricks.

“I can explain,” KITT told him, propping himself up with his back against the headboard.

“You’d better,” Michael replied, perching himself on the end of the bed.

“Don’t be angry when I tell you, please, just listen… It’s KARR… We had an argument last night.”

“And he hit you?”

“Worse… but I went to Bonnie. She cleaned me up. The knife is still in one of the guest rooms, hidden, I expect.”

Michael visibly flinched as it clicked what had happened, but he stopped himself from becoming irritated.

“And?” he pushed instead.

“She suggested I stay down here for the night so we walked down. She stayed for a while before going back to the house. She’s really not happy with KARR, Michael.”

“I could tell. Look, we’re going to get everything sorted out, I’ll have a talk with Devon. If you want to stay here for a while, you can, I’ll bring you breakfast.”

“No, I want to go back to the Foundation. I can’t let KARR think I’m scared of him,” KITT insisted.

Michael made a look like he understood, even if he was reluctant to let the cyborgs within fifteen feet of each other again. He got to his feet, told KITT to take his time getting ready, and disappeared back to the other room to think.

He supposed deep down he’d always known that KARR was going to snap at some point. Just not this quick. Maybe it really had been a mistake… If he could put together enough of an argument, perhaps he could convince Devon to reconsider.

And so he sat, waiting for KITT to get ready, seated at the table, patting his hands restlessly on the wood. KITT would never go to Devon on his own. Although he was a respected member of the Foundation, KITT did still technically _belong _to FLAG. His nature had never changed his mindset from his obligation to serve, even after he became humanoid. Altruism, Bonnie called it.

If anyone was going to change Devon’s mind it was going to be Michael, RC and Bonnie.

“Ready, pal?” Michael asked as he looked up to see KITT in the doorway, as neat as he could be under the current circumstances.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he replied, putting on an optimistic air.

“Let’s go...”

They locked the door behind and made their way back to the house, at a pace that would let them both have time to prepare before stepping through the door. No doubt, there would already be something going on inside without them. KARR causing a fuss, most likely. Maybe Bonnie had already approached Devon with the issue at hand.

However, the house was silent when Michael entered with KITT in tow. _Too _silent. Tense, definitely.

“You go make yourself something to eat, I’ll find the others,” Michael told his friend before double-stepping up the staircase to Devon’s office. He expected to find RC and Bonnie there, but as he reached the hallway, he found himself face-to-face with the annoyed mechanic herself, dressed in white shirt and black pencil skirt.

“Did KITT tell you what happened?” she asked, blank.

Michael nodded and leaned down a bit to be eye height with her,

“Have you spoken to Devon yet?”

“Not yet. I wanted to wait until you got back. I told RC, though.”

“And?”

“He seems rightly concerned. He’s with KARR right now, trying to keep him in check.”

“...Are you alright?”

“I’ll be better once we talk to Devon.”

“I will too. I’ll get KITT, you get RC and we’ll go see Devon, OK?”

Bonnie nodded her agreement and slipped past Michael, disappearing to the other hall leading to the guest room they were letting KARR stay in (unwisely).

Michael watched her go, noting her manner. She wasn’t happy, and Devon was about to be on the receiving end of it.


	17. A Discussion With Devon Miles

Devon Miles sat neatly behind his desk, blissfully unaware of the happenings the night before. Well, as blissful as Devon Miles could be. He averted his eyes from the pile of papers on his desk for one second as he noticed the door to his office creak open.

He was not surprised at all to see Michael enter, however he was a little more surprised to see him followed by RC, Bonnie and KITT.

“Is there a problem?” Devon asked, sitting up straight at once.

It took all of Bonnie’s responsible willpower not to immediately retort with ‘you bet there is’ or something of the sort. Instead, she bit her tongue and kept herself grounded.

KITT, stood partly behind her, wore a tweed blazer to cover the bandage on his shoulder. As soon as they got onto the subject of the incident, he expected Bonnie would prompt him to remove it. Until then, he stayed safely behind her.

RC stayed alert to any noises from the hallway. If he heard KARR making a racket he’d be the first to venture out to see what was going down.

“We need to discuss the KARR situation,” Michael started, his hands down by his sides.

“Is everything okay?”

It clearly was not.

“There’s been a bit of an incident, Devon,” Michael told him, “Actually, quite a big incident.”

“What happened?”

_“__Show him, KITT,” _Bonnie whispered to KITT, who removed his jacket to reveal the bandaged wound.

“KARR snapped,” Michael said, flatly.

Devon looked unusually surprised, as if he hadn’t expected something like this to happen.

“KITT is out of action,” Bonnie told him, with a grave frown on her pale face, “I fixed the wound as best I could last night when he came to me, but it was pretty deep,” she said, making it evident that she’d been up most of the night because of it, “The bandages will need refreshing regularly, and as soon as I get the chance I’ll have to do a proper job of mending the incision, which will also need time to fully heal.”

“How long do you think that will take?” Devon inquired, seemingly less worried about KITT’s well-being and more worried about when he’ll be able to go on assignment again.

“I’m not sure yet. I’d say a few days at least. He’s strictly off-duty until fully healed, to be supervised at all times.”

“Supervised?”

“If KARR’s stabbed him once I don’t doubt for a second he’ll do it again. Until we get him under control, I’m not leaving him and KITT in the same room alone. That means I’m staying at FLAG during recovery.”

Devon cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together, pondering how to respond.

“Bonnie, I… I think it would be better if you went home and took your mind off it.”

“And what? Leave KITT here?” Bonnie snapped back, “Let it happen again??”  
Michael, sensing her increasing agitation, laid a hand on her shoulder and softly suggested she take it easy.

KITT, too, recoiling a bit at the sound of her raised voice, clutched at her sleeve.

“I just don’t know how long it’s going to _take,” _Bonnie said, her voice cracking slightly, “How long it’s going to be before KITT feels well again, or how long before KARR calms down, if ever,” she added, rubbing her temples.

As if on cue, a suspicious clashing noise echoed from somewhere in the building and RC excused himself to investigate, but not before informing Devon of his opinion on the matter.

“The dude’s crazy, boss,” he said, looking back over his shoulder, “If we don’t get to work on ‘reforming’ him soon, FLAG’s honour is going down in flames.”

“KARR isn’t happy about being made cyborg,” Bonnie said, after RC had left, “He thinks it makes him weaker. That we brought him back just to ridicule him. He’s dead set on proving he’s as strong as he was before. He took a swing at me during his calibration period more than once, he’s picked a fight with Michael before and now he’s attacked KITT. If you think I’m going to sit back and let it play out, you’d better think again,” she finished with a snap before taking KITT by the sleeve and walking him out of the office,

“_...Come on, KITT, let’s change that gauze..._”

Finally, the room was silent. Michael took a step forward to Devon’s desk and leaned his hands on the wood.

“If KARR stabbed KITT, that makes him an assailant. As a Foundation for _Law and Government, _do you really think we should be harbouring someone who belongs in jail?”

“Don’t you worry, Michael. I have pondered that subject beforehand with great care. I am told that, because KARR isn’t fully human, we are not in the wrong for keeping him here, as long as he’s mostly under control.”

“But he isn’t under _control,_ Devon!” Michael argued, “Didn’t you hear what Bonnie said? And what about her? You know how protective she gets over KITT, she’ll do anything to keep him safe. I’m telling you, Devon, we can’t just let KARR stay here; she’ll _kill_ him.”

“Don’t you think that you’re going a little far with this all, Michael? I doubt Bonnie would go so far as to _deactivate _KARR.”

“Devon. If he takes another swing at KITT, she’ll defend KITT. She’ll either get herself fatally injured or she’ll finally crack. She wouldn’t think twice about deactivating KARR for good if KITT’s life depended on it. She’d burn the CPU.”

Devon was silent, thinking. He thought for quite a while, in fact, before finally sitting back and making a decision.

“We’ll give it a while longer, Michael. You know I feel that the FLAG members are like a family to me. I would never do anything to willingly put any of you in danger.”

“_How _long?”

“We’ll attempt the reformation process as soon as possible. If within a fortnight no change has taken place then we will find another place for KARR, otherwise deactivate him. Until then, we must continue work as usual. The Foundation does not rest for personal projects and I have an important assignment for you that I need you to get on by tomorrow.”

“KITT’s out of action,” Michael reminded him, “Indefinitely. Who do I take as a partner if not him? RC? RC has to drive the mobile unit, and when he’s not doing that, he has other jobs around the Foundation to do. I need to take somebody with KITT’s strength and functions. Can’t it wait?”

“I’m afraid not, Michael.”

“Who do I take then?”

“Well… there is one other person who possesses KITT’s strength and capabilities...”

“Wait… You don’t mean..?”

Devon nodded, solemnly.

“Devon. You can’t be serious...”


	18. A Risky Move

“KARR? Uh, hey, listen… I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”   
KARR looked back over his shoulder from where he was seated practising chess on his own. Refining his tactical thinking, plotting his next move on KITT, probably. He glared at Michael with an unbridled fury in his pupils that wasn’t abnormal for him.   
“Is it urgent?” he snapped.   
“Yes,” Michael nodded, keeping his hands shown so that KARR didn’t suspect he was hiding anything unpleasant.   
“Go on.”  
“I need your help. We need your help.”  
“Who exactly is ‘we’?” KARR asked, narrowing his already rather narrow eyes.   
The more his sharp gold irises drilled into Michael’s soul, the more Devon’s idea seemed like a terrible one. It had seemed terrible at first, but now the whole thing just sounded stupid. Michael didn’t want to go about it any more than KARR did, but he didn’t have much of a choice.   
“The Foundation. All of us.”  
KARR raised a thick eyebrow in a sort of disbelief garnished with amusement and he turned about in his chair.   
“The Foundation for Law and Government… needs my help?” he repeated, clearly humoured. He had a regular nefarious glint in his eyes that did nothing but remind Michael that he was the one who stabbed KITT, his loyal partner.   
“I know it sounds like a joke,” Michael continued, “But this is serious. There’s an assignment tomorrow I urgently have to be on. KITT is out of action, obviously, and I need someone with his… capabilities… to come with me. I rely on KITT a lot during missions, I can’t just go alone.”  
“So you want to bring… me.”  
“You’re the strongest member of the Foundation. And you are a member of the Foundation.”  
KARR turned back around to the chessboard and began returning the pieces to their starting positions, methodically.   
“What’s in it for me?”   
Michael swallowed the lump in his throat and shifted his weight around on his feet.   
“Respect?” he offered, “Do you… Do you know why we brought you back to FLAG, KARR?”  
“Of course,” KARR nodded, “To humiliate me. Resurrecting me to a lesser form just out of spite...” he replied, moving a pawn forward two spaces with considerable indignation.   
“That’s not it at all,” Michael told him, firmly, with just a hint of surprise, “FLAG never wanted to humiliate you. You were always meant to be a member, KARR. All those years ago when Wilton... shut you away… he was just wasting a perfectly fine contributing member to the Foundation. You were always meant to be a valid asset, but things happened. Our current mission is solely to make you feel like you’re part of the ‘family’ at last.”  
KARR gave an abrupt scoff before chuckling quietly to himself. Either he was in disbelief or just highly amused that Michael thought of FLAG as a family.   
“You’re only treated the way you are because you’re still angry and you’ve shown that you can’t be trusted on your own with KITT. If you calm down...” Michael continued, “You might for once feel like you’re included. Please, KARR, this mission is really important.”  
Still visibly amused, KARR moved around a few pieces on the chessboard at lightning speeds, eventually sitting back in his chair after capturing the opposing king.  
“Fine,” he agreed, “I’ll come with you. This once. If only for the sheer entertainment value. After all, it will be a chance to prove that I am superior to that flimsy prototype.”  
Of course, as KITT was first to be turned cyborg, he was now the prototype. Clearly, KARR’s opinion on ‘production line models’ had shifted since becoming an ‘improved’ (or so he believed) version.   
Although Michael couldn’t agree with KARR being superior, he wasn’t about to say anything about his false beliefs any time soon. He’d have to watch the guy with eagle eyes, he knew, or the reputation of the Foundation would, as RC mentioned, would be down in flames.   
“Thanks, KARR,” Michael thanked him, genuinely, “You won’t regret it. We should make a great team... with your expertise.”  
He knew he had to keep KARR happy with flattery to make him see that FLAG’s motive was not to humiliate him, no matter how much it pained him. Oh, how he wished he could just postpone the assignment for as long as it took for KITT to heal. But he supposed that teaming up with KARR had to happen sometime, and now was as good a time as ever. He bid KARR good day, told him that he’d be back with further details later, and left the guest room with a relieved sigh. He knew KARR wouldn’t dare pick a serious fight with him, so taking him on an assignment wouldn’t be a risk in that way, it was just making sure that KARR obeyed his orders that would be an issue.   
Sighing once more, Michael made his way down the hall to the room that Bonnie had made herself comfortable in (and would doubtless be residing in for at least a week). As he passed, he cast a glance through the crack in the door to see her playing an inattentive game of Go Fish with KITT.   
Seeming to sense her mind elsewhere, KITT laid down his cards upon the table and moved his hand to Bonnie’s shoulder.   
Michael left them to it and went to find something else to do. If nothing else, at least this plan was a way to keep KITT safe from KARR… and KARR safe from Bonnie.   
Sometimes he wished that KITT had never agreed to the whole becoming-cyborg proposition. Things would be a lot easier if he was still a car. Then again, he supposed it did have its moments. Hopefully, something similar would happen with KARR and things wouldn’t always be as chaotic as they were at the moment. However unlikely it seemed.


	19. Trust Sometimes Rusts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I apologize profusely for not having updated this story in a good while. I assumed that I no longer had any readers so the motivation to continue regular updates ground to a bit of a halt. That mixed with continuing other projects I have on the go. Secondly I would like to thank 'Osgood19' (is that username a reference to Doctor Who?) for your very lovely review that made me smile a lot!   
If you can, please attempt to leave more reviews now and then (however small) so I know you're still here. And if you have any ideas for future chapters you would like to see, don't hesitate to tell me. I could do with the nudge.   
Hopefully you will continue to enjoy the fic for the rest of its duration.   
Remember to stay safe during these trying times and have a lovely quarantine.

“OK, KARR, rule one: we’re a team. That means we work together, not against each other.”

“I know what a team is, Knight.”

“...Alright, rule two: you call me Michael. We’re partners and we don’t speak formally to each other.”

“You make it sound like we’re friends now.”

“I didn’t say that. Listen, KARR, I don’t want to be here any more than you do. This was all Devon’s idea.”

KARR looked at him with an expression that was nothing other than bored.

“Mr Miles is as much a fool as you are,” he said, blankly.

“If that’s how you want to look at it,” Michael sighed. If he couldn’t make KARR friendly he could at least try and tolerate his behaviour. And if he had to be perfectly honest, he wasn’t on the best terms with Devon himself.

“What is the plan, Knight?”

“The plan… is… We follow the suspect for a while. See where he goes. If he really is the killer and if the pattern of deaths stays the same, tonight he _should _strike again. Now, I know you’ve worked in a team before – with Tony and Rev back when you first got out of the… horrible place where you were locked up – so you should have no problem here. Keep me updated with stuff like heart rate and body heat as we go. You have KITT’s glasses, they work just like your scanner. I’ll keep the com-link activated so you can see everything. Ready?”

KARR rolled his tongue around his mouth for a bit. He seemed to be contemplating something (probably whether to follow orders or not), before he finally gave a decisive ‘ready’.

“Great,” Michael nodded firmly, “I’m counting on you.”

The words seemed to strike a chord with KARR, and he sat up a little taller, straightening the frames that sat upon his slightly hooked nose. An air of prowess, maybe, as if he was basking in the glory of being depended upon.

♘

Shockingly, the mission went well.

KARR’s constant analysis of the suspect’s state becoming more worried (especially when Michael caught up to him for a casual interrogation) practically confirmed suspicions. Like a lie detector, only better.

“I think that’s our man,” Michael had said when he’d returned to the car.

KARR sat there quite proudly. Maybe he was glad to be part of a team again. But whenever Michael commended him, he shot a glare back like he didn’t want to be told he was part of such a team.

Michael, too, felt a bit strange about talking to KARR in such a friendly way. Uncanny, it felt. But nothing bad had happened so far…

They drove back to FLAG in silence, as if waiting for one another to do something detrimental, but no such thing happened.

In a day or so, the suspect in question would be taken into court for a formal hearing. If found guilty, FLAG would receive their usual commendation, and KARR too would be thanked for his help. That would probably prove Devon’s point of a reformation being possible, however much Michael or the rest of the Foundation disliked the idea.

It was times like these he missed KITT.

He parked the Trans Am up in front of the Knight mansion, the sunlight glinting majestically on the glossy black bonded shell. Normally, Michael would have given the dash a pat of ‘well done’ before getting out, but remembering that the car was not now controlled by an AI, he refrained.

He and KARR got to their feet at the same time, shutting the car doors in unison, looking like partners in crime.

Sometimes when Michael looked up at the house he could almost hear the beat of Sergei Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights ringing in his head.

They entered the mansion and went their separate ways immediately, exhausted from each other’s company.

“How was it?”

Michael almost jumped at the sudden address, but as his eyes shot to the source of the voice he saw it was only the mechanic.

“Surprisingly well, actually!” he replied, straining a smile, “KARR stuck to the plan exactly. No shenanigans.”

Bonnie didn’t look convinced, nor relieved at all, only stood there with her hands on her hips. The dark smudges at the corners of her eyes and the gash on her nose evidenced the reason she had a hard time believing that KARR hadn’t done anything detrimental during the assignment. Michael had to admit that if he was in her position he would probably bear the same attitude.

“Tell him he needs to return the glasses.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” he assured her, patting her shoulder as he passed.

Reporting back to Devon seemed somehow less intimidating than continuing a conversation with Bonnie right now.

Devon would no doubt be happy at the success of the plan, but somehow that also wasn’t very reassuring.

“Michael, my boy! Back safe and sound I see.”

“Hi, Devon.”

“So, how did it go? Any hiccups?”

Michael shook his head, sitting himself down on the back of the sofa in the office.

“I was surprised. Thought he’d be against acting as a team and try to mess something up. Unless he was lying about the readings, but I guess we’ll just have to wait to find out.”

Devon gave a smile that was just a hint too smug and he clasped his hands together on the desk.

“See, didn’t I tell you it would be fine?”

Somehow the fact that he was pleased was not a good feeling. It seemed that he only picked out the success in his plan and completely ignored the fact that KARR had been an affliction upon the rest of the house for a good while now.

“I trust you thanked him sincerely for his good work.”

“Twice.”

“Very good. Once he realises there is merit in honest work he may begin to calm.”

As much as Michael wanted to agree, the sight of KITT’s newest injury and Bonnie’s numerous scratches and bruises from both the calibration period and her time defending KITT told Michael that getting KARR to a state where he could be called part of the family was going to be a lot harder than Devon seemed to think.


	20. Downbeat Anthem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you all for your ongoing support it's very encouraging!  
I started this fic as a fun little hobby and never expected it to get any attention, so this has been a nice surprise. Thus, however, if the plot seems a little hazy that's because I am very much making it up as I go along.  
I apologise if this chapter is a little short or seems a little uneventful, but I enjoy writing atmospheric things so here you go.  
The chapter itself is named after a song by American Grandma, which I do recommend checking out as it's quite relaxing and ambient, I listen to it a lot.  
I have included, at the end of this chapter, a little stylised drawing of how I imagined cyborg KITT to look. Feedback on this design would be appreciated; do you think I captured his character alright?(EDIT): I have been informed that the image does not show up on mobile. Please switch to desktop if you can!  
Thank you again and keep the lovely, heartwarming reviews coming whenever possible!

This night might have been one of the most peaceful nights of late. The excluded positioning of the Knight Estate from the nearest civilisation made for a pleasant lack of traffic sounds. It did not thunder that night, nor did it rain. The rest of the house’s occupants were silent as mice, if not asleep already, thus no voices echoed in the corridors.

So by all means on this practically ideal night, Bonnie Barstow should have been fast asleep in the warmth of the Egyptian cotton sheets. Alas, no.

Her eyes were still wide open, and she hadn’t even bothered to lie down and get comfortable, instead sitting upright with her arms wrapped around her knees.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Maybe it was _too _quiet. Maybe the temperature was too mild. Whatever it was, she didn’t feel like she could sleep if she wanted to.

The way Michael sounded so happy when he told her how well the mission went rubbed her the wrong way. It was as if KITT’s injury hadn’t really happened. And neither had hers. She knew she should be happy that the assignment went well, but still…

She shook her head and shakily ran her hands through her hair. She regretted agreeing to the whole thing in the first place. KARR’s motherboard being out in the open, up for grabs, didn’t really bother her any more. They should have just taken the thing and locked it away, she thought. Forget about KARR’s ‘potential’, it wasn’t worth it.

Toying with a single grey hair in her fingers, she found herself shivering with guilt.

It was her fault KITT had sustained his injuries, she subconsciously told herself. If she’d tried a little harder, maybe she could have convinced Devon it was a bad idea. If she’d told KITT that he had the right to say no. She could have stood up for what she thought. But she didn’t.

She’d never really believed that they could get KARR on their side. Not really. And her opinion didn’t change even after a successful mission. A one-off, she reckoned it was. Or a ploy to get the Foundation to trust him so he could cause even more havoc. Whatever it was, Bonnie could not convince herself that it meant KARR was getting any better.

She hadn’t told, or showed, anyone the extent of what KARR had done to her when he was still in calibration. When she and the rest of her team had to hold him back to stop him doing any more damage to himself than he’d already caused.

He’d kicked and shoved and shaken his head and whipped his hands around wherever he could. His rage seemed to simmer down after being restrained, but he’d done enough damage by then to make up for it.

Bonnie’s anger at the situation let her power through the ordeal, but not without a few scrapes to prove it.

She slipped out of bed, the floorboards beneath her feet creaking at what seemed like an extra-ordinary volume in the silence of the house, and she moved over to the full-length mirror. The most noticeable of her ‘battle scars’ stood out like a sore thumb; the gash on her nose that she wouldn’t let heal. She’d rub it and pick it in frustration, almost as if trying to make it obvious that it hurt.

Then there was the greening bruise on her jaw; if she lifted her nightshirt a bit, there was the larger one on her side too. And if she ran her tongue over her teeth she was sure she could feel one of them move.

She almost expected KITT to turn up at her bedroom door, asking why she was still up, or just to come in and silently comfort her. But he didn’t, no matter how long she stared at the door.

So she wandered over to the window in silence, feet padding silently over the cream vine-pattern carpet. A shimmer of cool air filtered through the gap in the window where it was on latch, swirling around the room’s stuffy atmosphere. It didn’t do a very good job of moderating the temperature but it did make the air a little easier to breathe.

By pulling back the lace curtains a little, she could peer out into the darkened garden, over the long pool at the back of the house. The way the moonlight glistened off the water gave it an almost magical glow, but the sight did nothing to calm her. She just felt so… guilty. Putting KITT, her pride and joy, in a dangerous situation without standing up for him.

She remembered way back in ‘82 when she saw KITT’s AI working for the first time, activated and running. She never knew how big a part of her life he’d eventually become.

Then she remembered more recently, after the transfer of the CPU, when he’d opened his eyes for the first time and looked at her… she recalled how her heart skipped a beat and her face broke into a beaming smile. She remembered, in fact, the first time he smiled back at her.

She wanted him safe more than anything else in the world, but she just didn’t feel safe at FLAG any more.


	21. Misgiving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again. I have returned yet once more with another modestly-sized chapter for your quarantine reading pleasure. Hopefully you are all feeling well. I watched an episode of Star Trek today for the sole reason that Patricia McPherson was in it. It was very strange actually. There was a sort of sub-plot about this virus that was going around the Enterprise and it made me go 'hmmm...'.   
On a completely different note, I've stuck another drawing at the end of this chapter of what I imagined KARR looking like. I don't know if it'll show up on mobile because the last one didn't want to co-operate. Hopefully you like him if you can see him.   
Sorry the ending is really cheesy. But the show is cheesy in the first place so my excuse is I'm just sticking to the theme.

After the court had landed FLAG’s prime suspect in jail a week prior, the last thing the Foundation expected was report of yet another murder.

Extortion, arson, theft, maybe. But another murder just seemed like a kick in the face.

“I recommend taking backup. It’s not a very safe part of town,” Devon advised to the group of sleep-deprived faces in front of him.

“I could go, boss,” RC offered, ever eager to help out.

“I’m sorry, Reginald, but since KITT’s shoulder is mostly healed, I believe that bringing him would be highly beneficial. If that’s alright with… the doctor.”

All faces turned to Bonnie – some with a look of worry, KITT’s with a glance of hope – but she only stared back at Devon. She took her time, a few drawn-out seconds, to respond.

“Fine. But only if I can monitor him and he stays out of danger as much as possible,” she replied, flatly, “He _is _backup. And strictly backup.”

Everybody seemed to sense – aside from maybe Devon – that she agreed solely for KITT’s benefit. Not having assignments to go on every day had been a slight detriment to him. There was only so long he could be kept busy and entertained back at the mansion, and the hours of re-reading books and winning card games against RC were beginning to bore him. If his own sanity wasn’t as risk, he had no doubts that Bonnie’s tenacious cosseting would confine him to the house for at least another week.

“It’s down in San Bernardino. You’ll have to set off rather immediately to start investigations straight away,” Devon continued, “Stay as safe as you can and remember to keep in touch. The three of us will be close by in the semi if you need us.”

Michael nodded firmly, taking this as a roundabout way of saying ‘keep KITT safe, for all our sakes’.

KITT was the only one who looked mildly positive about the whole thing. Getting to prove himself in a mission would not only help convince Bonnie that she could relax now, but would also show KARR that he was in no way about to claim KITT’s spot as the second FLAG field agent.

They left the office as usual to prepare for the trip ahead, and despite the fact that KITT and KARR were going to have to work together, Michael was feeling strangely confident about it. Since his first mission with KARR, he had been on one short, additional one, which had also gone well (besides a little arguing here and there, and KARR lashing out at one point, but not severely). Having KITT there would no doubt make things a bit more difficult. But if he could play mediator… Michael reckoned he might just be able to keep them under control.

The car trip there would probably dictate how the rest of the assignment would go. But if this one was as successful as the others… it would be a huge game-changer.

Of course, the ultimate goal was to eventually transfer KARR’s CPU to KITT’s old body, the Trans Am, that was currently a tool without an AI. The car had always been a staple of the late Wilton Knight’s vision of what FLAG would become, and it had served the Foundation very well in its time with KITT’s AI. However, KITT’s new body had attributes that the car did not, and vice versa. Being able to have both at the ready would benefit the Foundation twofold. KARR could not be trusted with the destructive power the Knight Two-Thousand held, however, until he was agreeable enough in his current, more containable, form.

Michael considered this as he packed a duffel bag of necessities (if the mystery in question required an overnight stay, a motel would be in order). He always found himself keeping this goal in mind whenever he started to regret agreeing to Devon’s plan. If only, he pondered, his fellow Foundation members could see it that way.

As if on cue, there came a knock at the opened door.

Michael turned about to see who it was – perhaps KITT looking for reassurance or Devon with some sound advice – and was slightly put on edge by the sight of Bonnie.

“Hey, Bon,” he greeted her, but she didn’t smile back. Not in an angry way, she just seemed reluctant.

She leaned slowly on the doorframe with her arms crossed, eyes refusing to meet Michael’s.

“You know what I’m going to say,” she sighed, solemnly.

“To be careful?”

“...Something like that.”

Michael abandoned the bag on his bed to face her properly. Overconfidence in this case would not put her at ease.

“Bonnie, I know how much KITT means to you. He means a whole lot to me, too. He’s still my partner, y’know?”

“I know… I just… want to make sure you know what KARR can… do. Without a second thought. What he’s capable of doing, when he- he snaps.”

Michael laid his hands on her shoulders in the way he always did to calm her. And as usual her gaze shot up to his face to listen. There was a certain look in her pale green eyes, not quite fear, but something a little more than apprehension.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to keep him safe. You know that, don’t you? You’re not the only one who worries about him, even if I don’t show it as much.”

Bonnie gave a nod in return.

“It’s just… that night he came to me. He was so frightened-”

“I know. I know you’re scared for him. But you have to trust me. You have to trust… _him. _Because I think you realise that he relies on you. But he can’t be confident if you keep worrying, so you have to be strong so he can be, too.”

“...It’s silly, isn’t it?”

“_No, _no of course it’s not,” Michael assured her, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Thanks, Michael,” Bonnie murmured, her voice muffled by the leather of his jacket. Her eyes barely looked over the top of his shoulder with his height, but she looked to appreciate it.

“I promise I’m not going to let you down.”

“I know you’re not.”


	22. Being Backup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back again!  
I know the updates are coming quick sorry if this is a bit much. Just got a ton of spare time. You know how it is.   
Anyway, I thought that all the mentions of assignments in previous chapters were really vague, so I've decided you deserve better than that, and now this assignment has a proper plot! I made notes and everything! Hopefully it will be interesting enough to keep you entertained. You'll probably figure out the mystery before Michael, KITT and KARR do.   
Thank you for reading! See you soon.

The hour-long trip to San Bernardino had drained most of Michael’s energy before they even got to their destination.

KITT had spent most of the time having a sudden realisation that the whole thing was really happening. He seemed to come up with any and every excuse to be nervous. Being with Michael was fine, but the thought of having to stay overnight in a motel with KARR was beginning to take its toll on him.

_“What if we just drove back to the Foundation at night?” _he had suggested, hopefully, but Michael told him firmly that they would cross that bridge when they came to it.

He also didn’t seem very thrilled about having to sit in the back.

But after an hour of uncomfortable shuffling and a disagreement about whether to play Vivaldi or drive in silence, KITT and KARR stayed silent.

The sun beamed down on them when they stepped out of the car, outside a very average-looking house with a towering palm tree outside.

“Looks like you, Michael,” KITT observed.

“What?”

“The palm tree. You’re about the same height.”

“Very funny, KITT. Come on.”

The three of them made their way up the drive, KARR wearing KITT’s glasses (as KITT was, of course, only backup and hardly needed them), looking like something between The Three Musketeers and a failed boy-band.

Michael knocked, with KITT and KARR on either side of him, and the three patiently awaited an answer.

A distressed-looking man of around forty came to the door, his face wrinkled with stress and age and his hair greying. He stood shorter than all of the FLAG team and stared up to Michael like he might have agreed with KITT’s earlier comment.

“Hi, you must be Charlie Palmer? I’m Michael Knight from the Foundation for Law And Government. You got in contact with Devon Miles?”

“Oh- Oh the Foundation, oh yes come on in,” the man nodded, seeming flustered.

KARR observed him with palpable scepticism as the three stepped inside the lightly air-conditioned house. It was fitted out sparsely with furniture that was depressingly lacking in colour variety. There was a grandfather clock against one wall, a fireplace (unlit, of course, in the hot weather), and a stack of books and magazines set upon an end table beside the beige leather couch. The parquet flooring shone underfoot, clearly cleaned recently.

Mr Charlie Palmer told the three to take a seat and set about fetching three glasses from the nearby breakfast bar, along with a large pitcher of iced tea.

“I believe you called the Foundation regarding your wife, right?” Michael started once all four of them were seated and had been introduced. He hated to get straight into investigations as soon as he’d walked into a home, but if he didn’t, KARR would surely step in with a less tactical prompt anyway.

“Yes… my Judy...”

“I’m… sorry to hear about your loss. But you can rest assured FLAG will do everything in our power to get you closure. Now why don’t you tell us what happened?”

“It was two days ago, so Wednesday. Our anniversary, in fact… they found her body in the lake park.”

“They?”

“A group of teenagers spotted her in the water. Judy had told me that she was going for a walk, she gets bad headaches, you see, in the heat. Or she did…”

“What time did she leave?”

“After dinner. Probably around two.”

“And she was found when?”

“Nine PM. I remember that vividly. I thought she might have gone out shopping so I wasn’t too worried about her. She grew up here and knew the neighbourhood like the back of her hand.”

“I’m assuming the police came to your door, is that right?”

Charlie nodded in affirmation, rubbing his hands together nervously.

“So may I ask why you didn’t get the police involved? Why the Foundation?” KITT inquired, ignoring the look KARR shot him when he spoke.

“They told me it was accidental. There were no signs of trauma, they told me she must have slipped and fallen in the lake. Didn’t even do an autopsy. But I can’t believe that. I just can’t. There has to be something more...”

There fell silence, only interrupted by the steady squeaking of the ceiling fan rotating. KARR sat with his elbows on his legs, looking at Charlie’s face intently through the hi-tech spectacles. Observing. Studying.

Beside him, Michael stayed silent, hands clasped around an empty glass between his knees. He could see why the death would be ruled an accident. There didn’t seem to be much more to the case than that. The lady fell, drowned in the lake, nothing more. But it wasn’t his place to simply decide what was worth investigating.

KITT sat on the other side of him, also deep in thought. It was good to be back on a case again and his mind was racing with possibilities, running theories in his head. Formulating what the next step would be. But how he wished he had his glasses…

“We’ll be in contact with the police department,” Michael said eventually, “Ask them a few questions about the body. We’ll stay in touch. And if you remember any other details, don’t hesitate to call Devon, he can pass on a message.”

“Thank you. I will.”

Michael thanked Charlie for his time, and let himself be shown the door. With KITT and KARR in tow, they left the house and silently slipped back into the Trans Am. It took them a minute to speak up again even once inside.

“His heart rate was suspiciously fast,” KARR said at last, “Respiration, too. He hardly blinked and his eyes kept looking around the room.”

“You think he’s lying about something?” Michael responded, turning to face him.

“Almost certainly.”

“He could have just been nervous. I mean, having to discuss his wife’s death in front of three men he’d never met.”

“You were sitting in a rather aggressive pose, KARR,” KITT pointed out, clearly trying to side against him, “You probably scared him.”

“I did nothing of the sort,” KARR shot back, “I would never do anything to cloud vital evidence,” he added, smugly.

“Is that right?”

“Don’t argue, you two,” Michael sighed, “This isn’t about us, this is about the Palmers. If you don’t agree with something, we discuss it civilly. Alright?”

Neither cyborg responded, nor did they make eye contact, but it was clear they knew that they would only get to the bottom of the – admittedly shallow – mystery if they worked as a team. However much that might pain them.

“Alright,” Michael muttered, turning the car’s ignition, “Let’s have a word with the cops. We need an autopsy as soon as we can get it.”

♘

KITT wasn’t used to being backup, and he didn’t think Michael was either. He and KARR had gone into the police station, leaving KITT alone in the car. Not that he could complain too much; he had grown to enjoy his own company.

Just as he was contemplating his own situation, however, his thoughts were interrupted by an incoming call on one of the screens built into the dash. Although the car had no AI, it still retained a few features, and thankfully being able to communicate with the rest of the team back at FLAG was one of them.

KITT casually lifted his hand to the button panel on the roof to answer the call. He had expected Devon, but was pleasantly surprised to be met with the sight of his technician.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

Bonnie gave a small, glad smile and adjusted her position in her chair.

“Devon told me that I should check in on all of you. How is everything going? Any mishaps?”

“Nothing so far, I’m happy to report,” KITT smiled back at her, “We met with the deceased’s husband for an inquiry. The local police department ruled his wife’s death an accident, but it’s clear he doesn’t want to accept that as an answer. KARR scanned him throughout the whole thing. He believes that some truth is being omitted.”

“And you?”

“Pardon?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t think that there’s enough evidence to prove Mr Palmer is lying, but I assume we will be investigating the possibility.”

“Better safe than sorry. So why are you on your own?”

“Michael and KARR are currently inquiring at the police department about a possible autopsy, which was not carried out after the body was discovered. If the death in question was anything but an accident, the postmortem should show it up.”

Bonnie only nodded in silence, seemingly thinking about something else.

“...KITT...”

“Be careful. I know.”

She flashed a quick smile up at him, seasoned with relief.

“And look after Michael, too.”

“I will. Try not to worry. It seems a simple case.”

“_Seems, _KITT. I’ve linked your personal com-link up to the FLAG computer system in case you need it.”

“Keep in touch, alright?”

“Of course.”

And with that, the brief call was terminated.


	23. Tracks in the Dirt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings.   
Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. I haven't died of COVID-19, just got a bad memory.   
How are you all? Hopefully good. Keeping yourselves entertained during quarantine I hope. I've been a bit addicted to playing Animal Crossing New Horizons (as many people seem to be lately). Have any of you been playing it too? My favourite villager is Eugene. He's smug, has shades and a leather jacket, so he's practically Michael as a koala.   
Anyway enough of that. Sorry this chapter is a bit short, I swear I know what I'm doing. Keep the reviews rolling if you can (even if just to talk about nothing in particular, always up for a chit-chat).   
~ Thanks for readin' ~

Just because the autopsy would take a day or so to complete didn’t mean that investigations would cease for the day. After getting the names and addresses of the local teenagers who discovered the body, Michael had convinced them to show him the exact location.

He, along with KITT and KARR, had been showed an area on the lakeside which was less open than the rest. Somewhere with some trees, and rocks on the waterside. And it was there that they had been left.

They split up to study the immediate vicinity for any hint of the death not being an accident. With the scanner glasses, analysis would be a breeze. But even though KARR could carry out the investigation with them on his own, Michael and KITT joined him.

“These rocks seem like they would make a bit of a barrier between the water and the land,” Michael commented, “Looks like it wouldn’t be easy to just slip and fall in.”

“So it was more likely she was pushed,” KARR added, matter-of-factly.

“She could have been standing on the stones themselves,” KITT put in. He didn’t seem to like the idea of the death not being accidental. It wasn’t like him to argue an opinion, especially if it concerned an assignment. But admitting there may be something more to this case didn’t seem to be on his agenda.

“Why?” KARR shot back.

“Why do people do anything?”

“Guys we’ll debate when we have time,” Michael sighed, “Just keep looking around. KITT, why don’t you head down the path and have a look around?”

“Of course, Michael.”

And with that he slipped away down the dirt path, cat-like eyes scanning over the surroundings as he went.

His gaze met the ground and was drawn to a certain trail in the dirt. At first, he had thought bike tracks, but looking back, the marks were too wide. Two thick stripes, it looked like, that slithered along the path. As KITT followed the stripes, he discovered that between them there would occasionally appear another shape that looked like it could be a footprint.

Finding this mildly suspicious, KITT back-tracked to where KARR and Michael would be back by the waterside.

“Michael, I might have found something,” he announced after loudly clearing his throat.

Michael turned immediately to him, standing up from where he had been crouched looking at the stones beside the lake.

“Whatcha’ got, buddy?”

“Some… curious trails in the dirt path. It may be nothing but it could be something.”

“Let’s take a look, then.”

KITT led them down to where the odd prints were, KARR immediately stepping in with his opinion.

“The footprints alongside it suggests an individual dragging or pulling an item or items,” he proclaimed, assuredly, “As for the two other trails, they could either be items such as logs or planks _or_ they could be…”

Here he got down on his hands and knees, squinting intensely at the tracks, scanning.

“_The legs of a human being...” _he whispered in a voice to rival Don LaFontaine.

Michael and KITT stared down at him as he crouched there, in his own little world where he was the star. KITT didn’t doubt there was suspenseful music playing in his head.

“I did consider bike tyres but th-” he tried to start, but KARR interrupted him.

“The lack of tyre tread suggests otherwise. Other than that, the width of the tracks is too vast to be any sort of wheel smaller than that of an automobile, and too close together to be of an automobile either.”

“Yes, that’s what I thought.”

“We must investigate further!”

“Sure thing, KARR,” Michael nodded, slowly. KARR was very helpful out on assignments, but sometimes he could get a little _too _helpful. He got a kick out of the appreciation he received from FLAG and others afterwards, Michael presumed. He watched KARR get up and inspect the path as he slowly made his way down it, his stare unwavering, finger and thumb rubbing his chin in thought.

“You don’t really think it was a murder, do you, Michael?” KITT spoke up once his fellow cyborg was out of earshot.

“I don’t see why not,” Michael shrugged, “Do you really think it was just an accident?”

“I’m… not certain.”

“Sure you are. You just don’t want to admit it.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you find it hard to agree with KARR?”

“_Michael. _You really think I’d be that _petty?”_

Michael held his hands up in a surrender,

“Just an observation,” he said, “It’s OK to agree with him, you know? We’re a team now.”

“I know,” KITT replied, flatly, but the word ‘team’ stirred something inside himself that didn’t particularly agree with him.

“Come on, pal, let’s go,” Michael sighed, slipping his hands into his leather jacket pockets as he followed KARR down the trail, KITT close in tow. Whether the two AIs liked it or not, they weren’t going to get anywhere without teamwork.


	24. Altruism

The motel the three of them had resorted to in the end could only be described nicely as ‘budget’. To say FLAG had a fortune of resources on its side, Devon could be a real Scrooge when it came to expenses.

It was positioned quite close to a large highway and the noise of the traffic was a constant quiet drone. The place itself was relatively pleasant and clean, which was more than could be said for the occupants of the surrounding rooms.

In a bid to convince KITT to stay, Michael had separated the three of them into two rooms, with him and KITT in one and KARR in the other. The rooms were conveniently right next to each other and, once he had convinced KARR to stop pushing the two double beds together to make one super-bed, Michael left him to it for the rest of the night.

Now he sat on the end of one of the two beds in the room with an empty cup of coffee in hand (the cup in question tiny compared to his large hands), watching the news but not really paying much attention.

KITT lay on the other bed, on the other side of the room, staring at the ceiling and toying with his comlink in his hand. It was midnight by now and he should have been getting some rest, recharging. Despite being able to last longer periods of time than humans without getting tired, that was no excuse for missing out on his beauty sleep. But instead he only lay and thought. He heard Michael switch the TV off, heard him put the cup back on the table (how he could sleep after coffee would never cease to confuse KITT), and sit heavily back onto the mattress.

“Is there something real interesting about that ceiling, pal?”

KITT didn’t laugh. He didn’t laugh at most of Michael’s jokes but there was a quality to his silence in this moment that could almost be taken as an anti-laugh.

“I’m only thinking, Michael.”

“About the assignment?”

“Correct.”

“Something bothering you? Come up with anything?”

“I… just can’t see it not being an accident.”

“Can’t you?” Michael sighed, “Or can you just not see yourself agreeing with KARR?”

“It’s not my place to express bias when it concerns a matter such as murder. Personal matters do not enter into it.”

“I see.”

“You sound sardonic.”

“Listen, KITT, there’s nothing wrong with admitting you agree with him. I’ve told you before, but it’s true. You know what happens when we let domestic stuff influence the missions.”

“I told you I don’t… No… you’re right, I know you’re right.”

Michael smiled as KITT finally turned his head to make eye contact.

“I love it when you admit I’m right.”

“It’s just hard, Michael. I mean, after all he’s done… he tried to kill us back then, he tried to kill me now, he tried to kill _Bonnie._ And after all that just to turn around and say ‘wow, KARR, you’re so good. You’re so clever in your deductions. Let’s follow your plan’? It doesn’t feel… correct.”

“I know, KITT. What KARR did to you was terrible, it makes sense that you’re still mad at him, _I’m _still pretty mad at him-”

“It wasn’t just what he did to _me._ I can see past that if I try. It’s not that part that hurts...”

KITT’s hand drifted to his shoulder, where he subconsciously began to rub the scar where the knife had been driven into his ‘flesh’. He healed faster, with more efficiency, and with minimal to no risk of infection. After the shock had worn off, it didn’t feel that bad. That wasn’t the issue.

Michael heaved another sigh and slumped forward to put his elbows on his knees, poring over his thoughts to piece together the right thing to say.

“I… know that you care for Bonnie a whole lot. And I know it upsets you to see her tired and hurt, but if we want to stop it happening again we have to pander to KARR a little. Forgiving him, if you can bear the word, doesn’t mean we justify the things he did. It doesn’t mean we say it’s OK, it just means that we’ve agreed to work together to make the situation better for all of us.”

KITT stared across at him, as if he was surprised that Michael had made a point that made sense. And he found that he couldn’t really argue against it. So he stayed silent.

“Just get some rest and think it over,” Michael told him, “Dream about it. Whatever. But we aren’t going to get anywhere on this case if there’s disagreements just for the sake of there being disagreements.”

KITT turned over to face the wall, comlink still in hand. He absent-mindedly ran his thumb over its surface as he lay there, wondering whether his technician on the other side was sleepless too.

He and KARR were practically brothers, the late Wilton Knight as their shared creator. Brothers who had gone down two very different roads. Through no fault of his own, KARR’s dominant program had been his detriment. What he’d learned from his waking moments with those two criminals all those years ago had shaped him into who he was. Cunning, devious, selfish.

But as Bonnie had told KITT one night, there was a chance that the things KARR had memorised could be ‘unlearned’. His mistrust to FLAG could be reshaped. There _was _a chance that Devon’s theory would work.

Getting along with KARR could be the deciding factor that tipped the balance in FLAG’s favour or against. KITT hated to think that he could be the reason for all of Devon and Bonnie’s work going to waste.

He was by nature as altruistic as KARR was narcissistic. So if for nothing else, he’d do it for _her._


	25. Autopsy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry I've been away a while. Memory bad. And other generic excuses.  
This chapter is a little longer than the last, I did put a good amount of effort into my comeback.  
Let me know what you think, as always, in the reviews. Maybe even share a theory.  
Anyway, hope you lot are well, stay safe, stay hydrated, and if you ever feel down, look at some pictures of frogs (I love frogs).  
Enjoy.

KARR’s theories about the possible murder only seemed to be affirmed further by the results of the autopsy and toxicology tests.

“’No sign of trauma’,” Michael read out from the report, as KITT leaned over the desk and read along upside down, “No injury to legs or other body parts. But most importantly, no water in the lungs.”

“So she didn’t drown either,” KITT concluded.

“I told you that,” KARR put in then, drifting over to stand beside KITT. He had been walking back and forth behind him before now, hands behind his back like Sherlock Holmes, in his own world again, “I did tell you, Two Thousand,” he repeated when KITT didn’t answer.

“You did… _theorise-_” KITT started, though disturbed by his ‘brother’s’ smug grin.

“But you didn’t believe me.”

“I don’t believe anything until it is confirmed.”

Michael looked up at them both, tiredly.

“Toxicology,” he continued with a sigh, returning to the papers, “’Zolpidem Tartrate, seventy milligrams’.”

“Sleeping pills,” KITT observed.

“Correct. Cause of death listed as… overdose.”

“Not necessarily a murder in itself… but if it wasn’t a murder, how did she end up in the lake?”

“Exactly.”

“So I was right,” KARR said, as eyes turned to him.

“...An overdose of zolpidem can cause confusion, loss of consciousness and irrational thoughts. Could be that she decided to swim in the lake and lost consciousness.”

“But then there would be water in her lungs, which there wasn’t.”

“Which brings us back to the matter of the tracks we found,” KITT interrupted, “Which could maybe hint to… killed off-site and dumped in the water to make it look like an accident.”

“It’s highly possible,” Michael agreed.

“If it was an accidental overdose, she clearly wanted to rest, so why would she have gone out for a walk? And I’m sure that she knew her dosage if she had been taking the medication for a while. So who could have gotten their hands on the pill bottle..?”

“The husband,” KARR replied.

“Correct,” KITT nodded. The first time he’d agreed with KARR on something, he thought. And although the smug smile that came afterwards still rubbed KITT the wrong way – obnoxious, he thought it was – no taunting came his way. KARR didn’t poke fun at him for not believing him, although he’d taken a jab at him minutes ago. At least not to the calibre KITT had expected.

“You think we should go back and talk to Mr Palmer again?” Michael suggested.

KITT nodded as he began to put the papers together and slide them into the envelope they’d come in for safekeeping.

“I think we took Mr Palmer too much for the victim. Everybody is a suspect now. Many married people, women at least, are killed by their partners. Jealousy, fits of rage, things like that. Just because Charlie Palmer was the one who called the Foundation doesn’t mean he can’t be guilty…. Like KARR theorised yesterday….”

“Then we know what we’re doing today,” Michael concluded, standing up, “Come on, let’s get in the car.”

♘

Charlie Palmer didn’t look like he expected a second visit from the three Foundation employees just yet. His eyes were wide and fearful as he let them inside, and throughout the meeting his mannerisms seemed nervy and paranoid.

Michael told him all about the autopsy. About the toxicology report and about the trails in the dirt (at which point Charlie’s breathing – KARR noted – became slightly erratic).

“Did you know your wife took sleeping pills, Mr Palmer?” KITT asked, gently.

“Oh, of course,” Charlie replied, “Judy had been taking them for years. Never had a problem with them.”

“Would you mind showing us the bottle? The one she would have taken the pills from that night.”

“I… no, I mean, that’s fine, I’ll go and get it.”

Charlie left the room, heading to the medicine cabinet clearly, which opened loudly enough to be heard from the living room.

KITT pulled a pair of gloves from his pockets, pulling them onto his hands delicately. Michael didn’t question what he was doing and neither did KARR.

“When he hands me the bottle,” said KITT to KARR, under his breath, “I want you to scan it for fingerprints, OK?”

KARR nodded slowly, but didn’t have time to say anything further, as right then Charlie re-entered the room, with the bottle in hand, which he then passed to KITT, who thanked him.

The bottle itself was white with a child-proof cap that seemed overly large. From the weight, almost empty. KITT skim-read the label as he rotated it in his hands, a pretence just to let KARR get a good view of every angle.

“Thank you,” KITT repeated, placing the bottle soundlessly on the coffee table.

“Do you need to take it for evidence?”

“Not this time, Mr Palmer… May I ask…. Did you and your wife have any disagreements around the time of the incident?”

“No, none. Why?”

“Well we have to rule out every possibility...”

“I hope you’re not suggesting I’m a suspect.”

“Mr Palmer, in situations like these, everybody is a suspect.”

“_I’m_ the one who called you guys in here. Why would I do _that _if I was guilty?”

“There is no need to raise your voice. We aren’t saying you are. But it isn’t in our power to be biased. Every suspect must be explored thoroughly-”

“Do you need anything else while you’re here interrogating me?”

“...No...” KITT swallowed, turning to Michael for reaffirmation, “We’ll… just be leaving.”

Michael gave a nod and started to get to his feet. Charlie sat down as he did, maybe intimidated by being towered over, or just exhausted from his little outburst.

“Thanks for your time. We’ll get back to you if we make any more progress.”

Michael’s voice seemed to calm him – although he didn’t apologise – and he left with KITT and KARR (who had been mainly a silent observer throughout) in tow.

“What prints did you pick up on the pill bottle, KARR?” KITT inquired as they made their way back to the car, the sun glimmering off its jet black exterior. Sometimes KITT still found it hard to register that that was once him.

“One set of prints,” KARR replied, “The husbands, evidently, since he wasn’t wearing gloves when he brought it in.”

“That’s weird,” Michael noted, “If Judy was the one taking the medication, her fingerprints should at least be on it. I doubt she wore gloves every time she took her dosage.”

“So… the bottle was probably washed,” KITT concluded, “Suggesting… a cover-up of some sort?”

“Seems so, KITT.”

“I assessed the dirt on the wheels of Mr Palmer’s vehicle before we entered,” KARR put in, “It matched the composition of the dirt around the lake. It could just be a co-incidence, but considering the other factors...”

“Maybe not, huh?” Michael hummed, “… I think it would be a good idea to ask around some associates and co-workers. See if our friend here has a history we should be aware of.”


	26. Stacking Up

“Oh, Charlie? Man, was he a character... We used to work in the same department. Why do you ask?”

“We- my colleagues and I- we’re investigating an unfortunate incident, uh, to do with his wife.”

“Judy?”

“You know her?”

“Not personally. Charlie never stopped talking about her. ‘My wife’ this and ‘my wife’ that. What happened?”

“She’s been murdered.”

“_Murder???”_

“At least we believe it’s murder. Overdose of her sleep medication, she was found floating in a lake a short while from her home.”

“I… Well that’s terrible, I don’t know what to say.”

“I just came to ask a few questions,” Michael continued, rubbing his hands together absent-mindedly as the man he’d been talking to slowly took a seat behind his desk.

“OK… go on.”

“You said Mr Palmer was always talking about his wife. Were they good things he said about her, or were they usually complaints?”

“Usually good things. The guy loved his wife more than anything else in his life, as far as any of us knew. He could get real jealous from time to time, though. He got moved to her department in Human Resources here a month or so back after a long time trying to convince the manager he was qualified for position. Wanted to ‘keep an eye on her’ or something.”

“Pretty possessive?”

“Very. Real weird guy, but they seemed happy together so we didn’t think anything of it.”

“I see… and he wasn’t prone to any… violent outbursts, by any chance?”

“I saw him get mad a couple times. From stress, mostly. I think the ringing of the phones got to him if he had a lot on his mind, made him snap.”

As if on cue, the desk phone started ringing, loudly, and the man sighed at the signal that he would have to reason with yet another irate customer.

“I’m sorry if I haven’t been much help,” he apologised, “I don’t know what went on after ol’ Charles got moved to HR, I haven’t seen him since. Excuse me.”

Michael gave a nod and his signature thumbs-up as he turned to leave, logging the man’s answers in his mind as he went. He narrowly avoided walking into a large photocopier and left the office to head back out onto the street, where the Trans Am was parked up. KITT would be down to meet him soon, if he wasn’t already sat there waiting impatiently.

The elevator was empty, so Michael took the opportunity to try to contact KITT on the com-link. No reply. He was probably still upstairs in HR consulting with Judy Palmer’s co-workers.

They’d sent KARR back to the motel to make a few calls to the extended Palmer family and he hadn’t called back so far so it would be reasonable to assume that he hadn’t discovered anything tremendously exciting.

When Michael returned to the car he found it empty, so unlocked the door with his fingerprint and slipped into the driver’s seat. He made sure to write downhis findings in a notepad before he forgot everything and sat back to relax until KITT returned.

But before he could lean over and slide a new cassette tape into the player, the CRT monitors informed him that there was a call incoming from FLAG. Presumably either Devon trying to inform him of a more important case that had just come up, or Bonnie making sure nobody else had died.

“We’re all fine, before you ask,” Michael said, in a mildly patronising tone, after he had jabbed his thumb to the dash on the roof to answer the call, “Don’t you worry yourself.”

“That’s _not _what I called to tell you, Michael,” Bonnie retorted, frowning back at him, “You can stop giving me that cheek, too. I’ve been doing some digging.”

“So have I.”

“I was looking further into Charlie Palmer’s past. Back in seventy-nine he was arrested for aggravated assault. Fined for obstruction of justice just over a year ago. Could all be nothing, but you never know. There just seems to be a history of stubbornness and little explosions there.”

“We got to witness that first-hand earlier. Our client didn’t seem to like the implication that he was a suspect,” Michael related, “But the evidence is starting to pile up against him, I’m afraid.” “Do you have enough to make an arrest?”

“Not quite yet. A little DNA analysis might just get us there. I’m just waiting for KITT to get back, he’s asking around some co-workers of the deceased. See if they know anything.”

“Michael… tell me the truth, how is he?”

“KITT? He’s fine, I told you.”

“No more incidents with KARR or anything?”

“They’re getting along just fine. Trust me, if there was anything wrong I’d tell you.”

Bonnie strained a smile back at him and nodded in understanding,

“OK,” she said, firmly, “I’ll tell Devon you’re making progress. Take care, you. Alright?”

“Of course,” Michael replied with a bow, “Thanks for checking in.”

Not minutes after she’d gone, the passenger-side door opened and KITT slid inside, pulling the door shut after him.

“Find anything interesting?” Michael inquired, tapping the notepad against his knee and looking expectantly at KITT.

“I may have done…” KITT hummed, “Apparently after Mr Palmer was transferred to HR, he kept a close eye on Judy. A few weeks ago a man from the same department kept… ‘hanging around her’. Coming to her with technical issues with his computer and such. Charlie watched them for a while, started to confront him more recently because he thought there was something… ‘going on’. Jealous husband who thinks his wife is flirting with another man and won’t hear her out… I don’t know, Michael, the evidence seems to be stacking up against him.”

“That’s what I was thinking, buddy. Only his fingerprints on the bottle, the defensive outburst when we asked him about his relationship with his wife… Bonnie called, she’s been looking into his criminal record and he’s been in trouble a couple times. Just minor things, heat of the moment things. But still…”

“Manslaughter.”

“Hmm?”

“Murder is premeditated, maybe this is a case of manslaughter. Something he did in the heat of the moment, as it were, and tried to cover up.”

“But why would he call the Foundation in if he was guilty? That’s what gets me.”

“The lady I spoke to told me that one of the other people in the office was suspicious about the death being ruled accidental. He told Charlie that if he didn’t get in contact with someone for a further investigation, _he _would. If Charlie is the one who contacts FLAG, he’s moving suspicion away from himself. And clearly it’s been working.”

“You might have a point there, KITT.”

“I know.”

“I mean, we haven’t been able to find a motive or an opportunity in anyone else so far. He’s our prime, if not our only, suspect.”

“So what, we pay him another visit?”

“Not just yet, KITT. I want to see what KARR has managed to turn up, if anything. We need some pretty solid proof if we’re planning to make an arrest.”

He started up the engine and pulled the car out of the parking spot by the curb. The last thing FLAG needed was to make a false arrest and betray a client. An occurrence of a guilty person contacting FLAG wasn’t impossible. In fact it had happened before back in ‘83 with a computer software developer. A dangerous arrest to make, but in some cases it was the right move to make. Or the only move.


	27. Detention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIGHT HELLO  
It's been too long.   
I'm afraid I have been rather distracted by working on my original book recently (it's not going particularly well but that is irrelevant) and couldn't really come up with any big bang to end this thing on. So I apologize for the lack of a plot twist here but I suppose the case itself wasn't really the main point of the story in the first place so no harm done.  
I really enjoyed writing this fun little fic (even if it was an accident), SO if you want to hear more from me, you can leave any ideas for the next little story in the comments and I'll definitely consider any you want to see. I was thinking of doing something with April Curtis even though I don't like her at all, but I have yet to come up with a plot incorporating her. Give me a hand? Maybe? (I'd also like to know your opinion on April as a character I think that would be interesting I won't attack you if you like her, I promise).  
Anyway I suppose that's a see-you-soon from me. I have very much enjoyed reading all your lovely comments so far, so thank you for those, and thank you for giving this silly little story a read.   
Take care.  
(and remember: ideas)

The return to Charlie Palmer’s house the next morning was not a particularly pleasant experience for any of the parties involved.

The sight of police cars outside his window had not put Charles in the greatest mood, and he was immediately put on the defensive.

The knock on the door switched his mood from ‘foul’ to ‘absolutely furious’. But, putting on the most civil facade he could muster, he answered to the second knock.

“Hello?”

“Hi!” Michael smiled down to him, with that wide, smug beam of his. KITT stood on his right, and KARR at his left, neither looking half as cheery, “We have some good news!”  
“Oh yeah?”

“We think we know who killed your wife.”

“Who?”

“The man whose fingerprints were all over her sleeping medication. But I think you already know who that is. Don’t you, Charlie?”

The three FLAG agents parted slightly to let two officers past, into the house.

“I don’t understand, what do you mean?” Charlie started, his calm front starting to melt away.

“Charles Palmer, you are being arrested on suspicion of manslaughter-” one of the cops started, but was cut off.

“I_ didn’t kill my wife!_” Charlie snapped, and he fought back as he was approached, “_You can’t do this, I trusted you-”_

Now completely discarding the thought of even_ trying_ to remain calm, he swung out at whoever was nearest him in a fit of blind rage that even his co-workers would have been surprised to witness. The closest person just so happened to be KARR, who reeled backwards from the blow to his jaw.

“You have the right to remain silent,” the arresting cop droned on, as his partner took care of the restraining, “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

Michael held KARR back from retaliating as KITT summoned the Foundation semi via his com-link as the conflict between officer and suspect continued.

“_I want a lawyer-”_

_“You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed to you free of charge...”_

“Let’s wait outside,” Michael suggested in a hushed voice, and both he and the two cyborgs slipped out the front door before any other incidents could occur.

“That… _hurt..._” KARR breathed as they stepped out onto the gravel drive.

“I think it was supposed to,” said KITT, but KARR was still rubbing his jaw, and his wide-eyed face was lined with a look of shock and confusion. Cautiously, he slipped his fingers into his mouth and pulled out a single tooth, which he proceeded to hold out to Michael in an offended manner.

“OK, KARR, just… uh, keep a hold on that one,” Michael told him, distracted by the other goings-on.

Charles was dragged out of his home by the other two, stronger men, still squirming in anger, and stuffed into one of the cars. But not before he shot a dirty look over to the FLAG agents.

“Really, there was nobody else it could have been after reviewing the evidence, was there?” KITT hummed, “I only hope we really did get the right guy, as it were.”

KARR made a muffled noise of agreement and spat out another tooth.

The low rumble of a truck engine grumbled into earshot; the Foundation semi – or Rook as it was sometimes known – which had been parked up a few streets away in readiness. It rolled up behind the departing cop cars and slowed to a standstill with a hiss from the hydraulics. Slowly, the ramp lowered and both the mechanics and their boss stepped out onto the street.

“Hey guys!” RC grinned, looking the most cheery out of the bunch, as usual, “Is it done?”

_“Hopefully,_” Michael replied as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

“KITT said we’d need first aid,” Bonnie put in, with a concerned expression on her face.

“For KARR,” KITT told her, shortly. He clearly didn’t enjoy the fact that now everybody knew he had taken the initiative to get his ‘brother’s’ little injury sorted out. But at the time of it happening, he had felt that it had to be done. Maybe he was used to calling for the Foundation semi’s assistance when Michael got himself into scrapes, or perhaps it stemmed from his altruistic nature, in any case he’d sent for the Rook in the heat of the moment for the sake of his former arch enemy.

Bonnie didn’t look particularly struck on the idea, either. Her expression had shifted from concerned to plain blank, gaze resting on KARR, who was standing a few feet away from the rest of the group and rubbing his jaw still.

_“Go on,” _RC urged her, gently nudging her shoulder, but all she did was maintain her wary stare.

Somehow it didn’t feel right to give attention to KARR when formerly she had given attention to KITT when he gained a knife-wound to his chest (courtesy of the aforementioned Knight Automated Roving Robot). Could she really go to the lengths of openly forgiving him and everything he’d ever done to wrong both her and her pride and joy..? ‘_Wouldn’t that be like letting him win?’_ she thought.

But when he made eye contact with her – a gaze devoid of anger or impatience – a sort of maternal wave hit her and she slowly stepped forward to take KARR by the shoulder and walk him back to the semi.

“We’ll only know after the court case,” Michael continued to Devon, “But I can’t think of who else it could possibly have been, not after we assessed every piece of evidence. And if we got it wrong, I’ll...” here he paused a second to think of something shocking he could resolve to do, “I’ll eat the next spider I see.”

Devon pulled a disgusted face, clearly hoping deep down in his heart that the arrest was correct just to avoid this accursed scenario.

“And how was KARR?” he asked instead.

“Oh he helped out a ton, Devon. No incidents, no big disagreements. Smooth as honey. What would you say, KITT? Would you work with him again.”

KITT gave a hum of thought, clasping his hands behind his back and adjusting his glasses (now safely returned to his possession).

“I think he’d make a fine field agent,” he said.

♘

As it turned out, that simple case had many complicated twists and turns that led itself to a relatively simple conclusion.

The court hearing had been to-the-point and quite brief. Once confronted with the stack of evidence against him, Mr Palmer had given in and finally admitted to the murder of his wife. Along with the confession of stealing funds from the company in his former work placement. Just as an added bonus.

He was charged with second-degree murder and sentenced to fifteen years in state prison, which was – as far as the Foundation operatives involved were concerned – frankly just not enough.

“What I don’t get is why the dude called_ us_ up when he was the guy who did it all along,” RC put in, before taking a loud sip of milkshake.

“My boy, sometimes people do unreasonable things when they aren’t thinking straight,” Devon told him.

“I don’t know, Devon. Seems to me that Charlie’s move there was the one thing that threw us off,” Michael put in.

The news item in the background drew to a close and the regularly scheduled broadcasting resumed. For once, the non-profit Foundation for Law And Government had been fully credited with bringing justice to the case. Even KARR had been shown on screen, which he had looked very proudly upon before tootling off to admire his brand new silver teeth in the mirror.

“I mean, if he hadn’t been so adamant about the cops being wrong, the case wouldn’t have lasted an hour. It would have been undeniably obvious that he was guilty. And if I hadn’t been told that one of our client’s co-workers pretty much threatened to call in someone if Charlie didn’t, we might not have come to the conclusion that we did. At least not so soon. And it happened before; with that game developer, remember? It was always a possibility.”

“A very good point, son. Sometimes you really do surprise us with your deduction.”

“Thanks, Devon,” Michael replied, although he didn’t feel entirely flattered somehow, “What’s important is that the case was resolved without mishap from Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny,” he added, vaguely gesturing to KITT to hint towards the fact he was referencing him and KARR.

Devon cast a glance over to KITT – and Bonnie fast asleep on his shoulder – as he sat and did a crossword in the morning paper without so much as a pondering hum before filling in each question.

“So you don’t think our plan was so unreasonable after all, hmm?” Devon smiled in a patronisingly smug manner.

“Hey…We’ll see, alright?” Michael responded, but after a second of silence he couldn’t help cracking a smile, “...We’ll see.”

fin.


	28. Part 3 - Coastline

“We have a _surprise _for you!”

“A… surprise?”

Michael nodded, quite excitedly, at the Foundation’s head mechanic, in a way that suggested the aforementioned surprise was something equally as breathtaking as, for instance, flying cars or a pet tiger. RC, too, tugged at her sleeve to pull her forward.

With an overly dramatic flourish, Michael presented Bonnie with a large, navy blue, wide-brim sun hat, complete with large ribbon bow tied around the band.

“It’s a… hat,” Bonnie observed, mildly thrown but still trying her best to look thankful,“..._Thanks,_ guys.”

“But that’s not all!” RC grinned.

“Alright?”

“_The hat’s a hint,”_ Michael whispered.

“To celebrate it being a whopping _three years _since you came back to FLAG, we’re going to the beach for the day!” RC declared, clearly more excited than Bonnie at this prospect.

Bonnie couldn’t help but smile at his spirit, though she was less enthusiastic about the trip itself. She’d never been a regular beach-goer, preferring to stay in the garage or the library dressed in a jumper, rather than on a sun lounger in some sweaty spandex one-piece. She had no doubt that the whole thing had been Michael’s idea, but the thought was there and for that she was appreciative.

“...Thank you, honestly, but you do realise it’s September, don’t you?”

“Exactly! It’ll be quieter!” RC insisted.

“Awh, come on, Bon, you’ll have a great time! Even KITT’s coming!” Michael grinned, shaking her by the shoulder a little bit too violently.

“KITT? At the beach? Was this a consensual decision?”

“Just because I can’t tan doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the sun,” came KITT’s matter-of-fact voice from somewhere behind. He slithered up to the others, as was his manner, and started to clean a pair of sunglasses on the hem of his shirt, “_I even got you something special,” _he whispered to Bonnie. Bribery was not a bad idea.

“Alright, alright, I’ll get my stuff...” Bonnie sighed with a smile, admittedly curious as to how the day would go. After all, it was technically _her _day, she might as well play into it.

“That’s the spirit!” RC chirped, “Make sure to pack some cool shades.”

Bonnie left the room backwards, with the same look on her face as an exasperated yet flattered mother.

“So KITT. What’s this special thing?” Michael asked, not even trying to hide his curiosity.

“From myself _and _KARR,” KITT replied, “It’s a cake.”

“...Can I have some?”

“You may have whatever is left.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

♘

The car ride had felt like an age, despite being only just over an hour in reality. Naturally, they had taken the Knight 2000, and had the roof down the whole way. But still, being in a car with four other people for an hour was not the most comfortable trip. Michael had insisted on playing the Beach Boys as he drove, ‘for immersion’, and KITT had attempted to keep everybody entertained with word games and geography quizzes, but his questions escalated to the point where even Devon would have had to use an encyclopaedia. KARR decided that an argument would be quite fun, and quickly engaged KITT in a heated debate regarding the flavour of water. This argument had not reached a conclusion, but it was likely to continue at a later time.

But finally, after exactly one hour and thirteen minutes, the motley crew arrived at Laguna Beach, on the cusp of some of the bluest waters in California.

Now, as the sun beamed down on the strangely warm September day, the FLAG crew made themselves at home on their (more empty) end of the beach. Michael and RC had embarked in a highly competitive round of beach volleyball, KARR had discovered the drinks cooler and was helping himself, and Bonnie was stretched out on a beach towel with both sunglasses and the blue sunhat covering her eyes (this was partly as a shield against the sun but mostly so that she wouldn’t have to look at Michael’s bright red shorts). KITT was approaching her (also in shorts, but decidedly less red, and only complete with a white linen shirt), cake box in his hands and a proud look on his face.

“Ta-da!” he announced, removing the lid, dramatically.

Bonnie sat up, moving the hat back onto her head as she did, and immediately ended up faced with a round red-velvet cake, adorned lovingly with the words ‘Congratulations on Not Killing KARR’ and, in smaller writing underneath, ‘yet’.

“_KITT_...” Bonnie smiled, amused, droning out his name the way she always did when she was exasperated with him, somehow inserting a ‘Y’ between the ‘K’ and ‘ITT’.

“It’s from KARR too but don’t tell him I told you, he’s embarrassed about contributing to a gift. I had to do the icing myself, I didn’t think the cake shop people would understand. I’m sure you know what I mean.”

“It’s lovely, KITT, thank you very much. This is all… very lovely. But I really don’t need all this fuss”

“It is simply our way of thanking you for returning to the Foundation. FLAG wouldn’t be the same without you.”

And before he could process it, he had two arms wrapped around him in a warm embrace.

“D-…_ Don’t make me drop the cake,” _he breathed, a little confused at this sudden display of affection. He was released gently.

“How was it? When I wasn’t at FLAG, I mean,” Bonnie asked as KITT sat down on the beach towel, facing her.

“It was different,” he replied, shortly, offering a slice.

“Good different or bad different?”

“Well, you and April have very different personalities. You can’t really say if one is better than the other...” KITT started to ramble, “Of course, it would be easier if you’d been able to meet her for you to get an idea of what that specific time was like…”

It was at that moment that they heard a loud call of Michael’s name from a voice that Bonnie hadn’t heard before – a woman’s, quite high with just a vague splash of a Texas twang.

“_No...” _KITT breathed in disbelief, almost dropping his cake, “That’s too much of a co-incidence, surely.”

But no, there she was, blonde-ginger hair and pink lipstick, walking down onto the sands with a girl around 14 beside her.

“I...” KITT started, “…I suppose we ought to go and say hello.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a bang, babey.  
In all honesty I don't have too much of a plan for this part of the fic, but I do have a vague outline I'll follow to the best of my ability. I was rather missing the excitement of getting reviews and such on my work, so I decided to just jump into the third part I'd proposed. Hopefully you lot will stick with me and enjoy this as much as you enjoyed the last two.  
And I sure hope none of you are April fans, because I'm sure not.  
No idea how regular updates will be, but don't hold your breath.  
Bis später.


	29. An Initial Impression

“_April?” _

“Michael! Hi! Devon told me you’d be here.”

“W- Well what are you _doing _here all of a sudden?” Michael laughed, lightly, as he walked back over the sand to meet up with his old friend.

“Ah, Becky and I were just visiting the area and thought we’d check in with you all,” April replied, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, “We got to the Foundation and nobody was there apart from Devon. He said you’d gone down to the beach so… surprise!”

“Wow, this is _great_!” Michael exclaimed. He looked down then to see Becky, who looked mostly the same as when he’d last seen her, only a few inches taller.

They had last seen each other in ‘84, when Michael and KITT had had to race around after a murder suspect trying to obtain a bone marrow donation while he kicked up a fuss about running from some rival gang. It had been a wildly stressful assignment, but one that was a matter of life and death, and it had ended well when all was said and done. With how busy their job at FLAG was, Michael and KITT hadn’t had a chance to catch up since.

“Boy, you’ve grown!” Michael smiled down at Becky. She must be about thirteen or fourteen at this point, he thought.

“Where’s KITT?” Becky asked, clearly more interested in catching up with the computer than talking about getting taller.

“Oh, he’s here somewhere…”

Michael hadn’t expected to be confronted with the matter of having to explain the recent changes to the FLAG dynamic today; he supposed he’d just assumed that by the time he saw April or anyone else again, KITT would have returned to his original body. But as it turned out, the humanoid form was looking to be at least semi-permanent.

“Hey, there’s some new friends you gotta meet!” He said instead, and waved RC over.

Reginald jogged over, volleyball under his arm.

“Hey Michael my man, what’s up?”

“RC, this is April, she worked with us at the Foundation for a year back in eighty-four. April, this is RC, he and his buddies helped fix KITT a while back after an – uh – unfortunate incident, he’s been with us ever since.”

The two shook hands, RC still wearing that sunbeam of a smile he always had. There was no doubt that they would get along fine; it was hard to _not_ get along with RC.

Both Bonnie and KITT stayed fairly far back during this exchange, both awfully nervous as to what they were going to say to introduce themselves, since April wouldn’t have seen either of them before. At least not like this.

Michael proceeded to point out KARR, who was half way along the beach by now, looking for crabs or maybe some children to scare. Michael did not say much about KARR – April didn’t know about his past as a homicidal maniac and as far as FLAG was concerned, she didn’t need to.

“I’m sure you know of Bonnie Barstow already,” Michael started, and Bonnie’s heart stuttered a bit.

She had no idea what opinion April Curtis had formed about her, and if she was honest, she didn’t really want to know. The fact that KITT and Michael had never been able to explain what that year was like to the extent Bonnie wanted did not help. She wondered sometimes (infrequently, but sometimes) what impression April had of her when she was at FLAG, and she never assumed it was a good one.

She stepped forward anyway, wrapping her beach kimono around herself with one hand. Slightly nervously, she held out her other hand for April to shake, which she did, gently. She did the same to Becky.

Bonnie had never seen April in person before, only in the odd photograph every now and then. The first thing she noticed was, naturally, the mass of ginger hair. Then her eyes took in the very pink lipstick and pointy nose. April was probably a good two inches taller than her, not counting the voluminous hair.

“How are you?”

It had seemed like a huge pause between the handshake and the question, but in reality it had been but a millisecond.

“I’m well,” Bonnie replied, stiffer than a plank of wood, “You?”

“Good, thank you.”

The conversation hadn’t exactly got off to a natural, casual start.

Michael could tell that Becky was still waiting to find out what had happened to KITT, and since the mechanics’ exchange was looking like a train wreck, he decided to get straight to the point.

“KITT has had a bit of an adventure recently,” Michael began, not quite knowing how to phrase it, “A while back, Devon had found out about this new invention from some of his science-y contacts, it was like a simulated human body. Just a prototype, but the idea was that eventually it could be used to give people with real serious injuries another chance. Of course, it needed to be tested out and… well… we already had an AI who fit the bill...”

“...What are you saying?” April asked, sounding awfully concerned.

“OK, uh, guys, meet the new KITT…”

KITT approached, did a little bow, and composed himself once more with his hands behind his back.

“No...”

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong,” KITT corrected April. He looked quite proud of himself, in fact, with his sleek new form, raven black hair and fancy scanner-glasses.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Um- Bonnie made the design, of course, and took the lead in putting him together,” continued Michael, “It took a little while to get used to everything, but we’re back in action again, bringing justice left, right and centre, right, buddy?”

“Correct, Michael. I would dare say better than ever, but we have yet to be confronted with such a rival as Goliath that I’m not sure if I can make a fair comparison,” KITT said.

All Becky said was ‘KITT?’, to which he replied ‘That’s _Black Beauty _to you’ and was immediately pulled into his second surprise hug of the day.

Although clearly not believing her heavily mascara-d eyes, April did crack a smile at that. Still, there seemed to be something else bothering her.

_“__You aren’t just visiting, are you?” _Michael asked under his breath as KITT and Becky were both distracted, and April shook her head.

“I might have a case,” she replied.

“A case?”

“For the Foundation.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little clunky and composed of practically all dialogue, but it's just setting up context and stuff, you know?  
Anyway thanks for sticking with me for part 3, we are going to have so much fun (hopefully).  
I plan on making this one better than the KARR one but no promises.  
Until later


	30. Burglary and Blueprints

The return to FLAG was a more quiet trip than the one going from it that morning. April and Becky had set off already to settle into their hotel room, leaving the rest of the gang to a slightly deflated beach trip, clouded by the knowledge that they’d be dealing with (what sounded like) a very serious case soon.

The five entered the Knight mansion at six in the evening, with just enough time to pick the sand off their skin and get changed before April and Becky turned up for supper. That would, presumably, lead into an explanation of the aforementioned case.

KITT was in his room at this moment in time, neatening up before supper. He had donned a fitted black polo shirt (he owned at least four, in varying dark colours) and slacks in _exactly _the same shade of black. It would have looked jarringly like a jumpsuit had it not been for the belt. He dressed in this sort of style on the regular, perhaps believing that the more formal look would mask the fact that he was most probably the neediest, whiniest member of the Foundation. He positioned his glasses exactly symmetrical on his nose and, after a quick dab of cologne, left the room.

In the hall, he met Bonnie, whom he complimented on her outfit choice (a skirt and a blouse with some truly majestic sleeves).

“Isn’t it exciting that you finally get to meet April?” KITT asked, cheerily, as they both made their way to the stairs.

“Yeah...” Bonnie nodded, although she probably would have favoured the word ‘scary’.

“And, oh, Becky is lovely. She’s such a sweet, innocent girl. I’ll have to tell you all about the time Michael and I had to go and track down a bone marrow donor for her, it was a very interesting assignment, and very stressful...” KITT rambled on.

“That sure sounds exciting,” Bonnie replied. It was clear by her voice that she didn’t really want to hear it.

♘

Devon sat head of the table.

Being Devon, he made everybody stick to the formal seating arrangements commonplace at dinner parties and the like. Michael put up with it, begrudgingly; KITT fully supported it, unsurprisingly; Bonnie was used to it by now; RC found it strange but politely conformed; KARR always insisted on sitting guest of honour. Nobody denied him this.

As was customary, Bonnie was seated at the other end, as the second host. Being perhaps the most level-headed of the FLAG employees, she was regularly appointed second-in-command after Devon, a position she would never admit she enjoyed.

April took KARR’s usual spot as the guest of honour, which forced KARR to move down to sit opposite KITT at Bonnie’s end of the table. She watched over them both with eagle eyes.

RC, Becky and Michael took up the rest of the seats, with one left over (a common occurrence which vexed Devon so).

As it was, everybody was just finishing off dessert – a frankly immaculate lemon syllabub splashed with white wine and almonds. Somewhere in the background, a Beethoven record rotated, sending the quiet tunes of Ode die Freude through the dining room.

As far as Devon was concerned, this was a perfect arrangement. And KITT would probably agree.

The group had previously exchanged some light-hearted stories, April informing everyone of how everything was going with the French firm she worked for now and KITT relating his recent transformation (but only after Bonnie had cleaned a smudge of food off the side of his mouth with her thumb and a lick of spit, regardless of his protests. Now nobody could take him as seriously as he had hoped).

Inevitably, the conversation reeled around to the case April had been keeping to herself this whole time. Sensing that the matter was a grave one, Devon subtly suggested to RC that he take Becky and show her around FLAG. RC took this as an opportunity to show off his brand new Nintendo Entertainment System. He did not sound overly bothered about missing out on the explanation.

“It started a week ago,” she began, putting down her glass, and everybody else fell silent to listen, “I came home on the Saturday, after having dinner with Laura and Becky, and my apartment was completely trashed. At first I thought it was just a normal burglary, but then I noticed they’d left all my gold jewellery and diamonds, so I knew that couldn’t be it. So I went looking for what they’d taken, if anything, and I found a file drawer open…”

“Go on?” Michael urged.

“Well, when I left the Foundation, I took a few papers with me… upgrades I was going to add to KITT, blueprints and such, you know. And that’s what had gone missing.”

There was silence around the table as everybody pondered over what this meant. A few blueprints didn’t seem too big of a deal upon first reflection, but depending on what the upgrade _was, _in the wrong hands… Well…

“Who would know about the plans?” Bonnie asked, “Did you tell anybody you had them?”

“No, I only told Laura that night when we were talking about FLAG and KITT. And I know it can’t have been her because I left before her, and she would never do anything like that anyway. I know she wouldn’t.”

“Did you call the police?” Devon inquired, and April nodded her head.

“They asked me what was stolen and I told them some papers. I didn’t think I could tell them what they were of. They said they’d look into it but I haven’t heard anything back. That’s why I thought I should get in touch with you.”

“But what would some thieves want with Foundation papers?” Michael wondered aloud.

April cleared her throat, nervously, and leaned back in her chair. She did not make eye contact with anyone.

“One of the plans was… for a laser,” she admitted, “A very high-powered laser. With a detailed list of materials that would be needed to make it. I don’t know what could happen if that were to come into the possession of the wrong crowd. I hardly want to think about it. And I hope it’s not but I think there’s a possibility the people who took the plans might be planning something bigger – something against FLAG.”


	31. The Long Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good evening all!  
I sat in front of this chapter for hours with no ideas, head completely empty, then suddenly before I knew it I was talking nonsense and it was over 1000 words. Not sure what happened there.  
On a side note I watched an episode of Matlock, purely because Patricia was in it. The episode was quite cheesy but obviously Patricia was good. Had, like, chin-length hair, though, which I had mixed feelings about. Got used to it after a while. I'd actually recommend watching it on YouTube before it gets taken down, it was a good mystery. Season 6 episode 1+2. Actually enjoyed it more than the Star Trek episode she was in.  
Moving on. Enjoy this, whatever it is. Leave your thoughts, float on.  
Later.

After the guests had left for their hotel, the remaining members of the FLAG gang took it upon themselves to formulate an action plan. Gathered in Devon’s office as they so often were, the six contemplated the little information they knew.

Aside from the fact these people were in the same restaurant as April Curtis, somehow knew where she lived and also had an interest in FLAG, not much was known. In fact, from the presented clues, the most likely suspect was Laura Phillips.

“We’re going to have to interview her, aren’t we?” RC said.

“I don’t know, RC. I’ve met Laura, and she’s not like that, the Foundation saved her daughter so she has no reason to hold anything against us. What would she even need a laser for?” Michael replied, “Besides, Becky will have been with her all the way from the restaurant to back home. So as long as Becky was there, Laura has an alibi.”

“And the timing doesn’t match up,” KITT added, “They’d have no time to get to April’s apartment before her.”

“Who else would know where April lives, and also want to build a laser?” KARR asked.

“There are a surprising amount of people who want to destroy FLAG, KARR,” Devon told him, seriously, as he sat behind his desk, hands clasped together on its surface, “People like extortionists, gangs, arsonists, power-hungry fraudsters, bank robbers… you name it, we’re standing in their way, and as long as we’re here, they can’t get what they want. Whoever it is, we need to get those papers back before some undesirables get their hands on a potentially deadly laser.”

The others were silent for a while. Michael paced around a little bit with his knuckle in his mouth, RC stood with his hands on his hips as if waiting for someone to walk in and tell them the answer, KARR was sucking his cheeks in and out like a strange fish, and Bonnie had perched herself on the back of the sofa, KITT beside her. Nobody had a single idea between them.

“If they _did _know April’s address, and just ‘happened’ to be at the same restaurant that night, could this be a stalker?” Bonnie suggested, “A stalker specifically interested in FLAG.”

“You could be onto something there, Bonnie. If that’s so, I think the best thing to do is to simply play the waiting game,” Devon advised. His plans usually sounded a little strange to everyone at first, but more often than not they ended up working alright. So while the idea of just sitting back to see what would happen seemed a bit non-productive, it was realistically not the worst thing they could do.

“Is that what we’re going to tell April? We’re just going to see what happens?” Michael asked, still looking uncomfortable.

“We will be on the watch, my boy. Keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity. But we aren’t going to take any action too soon, we don’t want to stir the pot when the culprit may still have itchy trigger fingers from pulling off the burglary.”

“Devon’s right,” KITT confirmed, although he usually sided with the Foundation’s illustrious leader anyway, “We should wait until they think they’ve gotten away with it and start getting overconfident. April will understand, she worked with us for a year. Besides, this way we get to enjoy the reunion without it being interrupted by the assignment.”

Everybody seemed to agree that there wasn’t really another option. There was no _way _they could track down the culprit with this little information at this early stage anyway. Something was bound to happen that would lead them one step closer, as long as they kept their eyes and ears open.

“April and Becky are back here tomorrow; we’ll tell April what the plan is then, and we can all kick back and play some games,” RC smiled, “We got real far in _Metroid.”_

“I… guess I’d better head home, then,” Bonnie said, clearing her throat as she got to her feet, “You all have a good night’s sleep, alright?” She hugged KITT goodbye and swiftly left with a wave to go and fetch her bag and coat.

RC followed after a bit, then KARR, then KITT and Michael, all bidding Devon a good night as they went.

“Hey, Michael?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“It’ll be alright, won’t it?”

“Of course it will, KITT,” Michael assured his partner as they made their way down the hall to their respective rooms, “What are you worrying so much for?”  
KITT sighed, shrugged his shoulders and stuck his hands into his pockets,

“It’s just… When we all get together like this, something bad is bound to happen. And I don’t want Becky to get caught up in it. She’s only a child, she’s far too young to be involved with anything we do here at FLAG.”

“That’s why we’re keeping it a secret, KITT. She just thinks it’s a normal visit with friends, and if we manage somehow to nip this situation in the bud before things get out of hand, she’ll never have a reason to think otherwise. Alright, pal?”

“Alright,” KITT nodded, “Thank you, Michael.”

“Don’t mention it, partner.”

“Goodnight, Michael.”

“Goodnight, I’ll see you in the morning.”

♘

Bonnie returned to her flat with lingering mixed feelings about the day behind her. It felt almost uncanny that just the same morning, Michael and RC had managed to drag her to the beach at nine in the morning, and it had ended by discussing a case that could mean the end of the Foundation if worst came to worst.

She held mixed opinions about April Curtis, too, and was sure that April had the same feelings about her. There had been a palpable sense of apprehension in every single one of their conversations. And apart from being mechanics, they didn’t seem to have anything in common.

Bonnie thought back to one of their conversations over dinner as she locked the door, dumped the bag on the floor and snaked to her bedroom.

April had been discussing a man she’d met at work – a tall, charming, blond man by the name of Kevin (or Kyle, or Christopher, Bonnie couldn’t remember) – a blossoming romance, by all means. Then she turned to Bonnie, with an expectant smile.

_“Is there a man like that in your life, Bonnie?”  
_

She supposed she’d never really thought about it before. Her experiences with relationships since FLAG had had some interesting ends. Simon: a cold-blooded killer, a liar who had been in and out of mental institutions his entire life, whom she had _seen _strangle Linda Ramsden in front of her eyes; great at tennis, though. Then there was Austin Templeton, the magician whom she had so fervently defended against Michael’s accusations that he was a killer. The accusations turned out to be true, of course, which was embarrassing, especially when Templeton attempted to drown Devon, too. He was also a pretty strong tennis player. Maybe the common denominator here was tennis.

_“__Not really,” _she had replied to April’s question, shakily, a little uncomfortable, _“__I’ve got a lot on my plate working at the Foundation, I’ve never had much time to think about… __that sort of thing__.”_

_ “Is that why you left?”_

Bonnie swallowed, a little shakily, hung up her coat and turned to get undressed. She hated thinking about the time she left, _hated _it. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she’d never even wanted to in the first place, and she regretted it. She could vividly recall the feeling when she came back and everything felt ever so slightly different. Like coming home and finding a light on when you could swear you’d turned it off. But she supposed that was only her own fault; she’d been so stressed and overwhelmed by the whole operation (especially after the events at Helios) that she’d seen no other option but to quit for the sake of her own sanity, but she never knew what she was missing until she returned to what felt like begrudging open arms.

She knew it was unreasonable to think that Devon, Michael and KITT (_especially _KITT) were in some way holding those actions against her. They were practically family to her. But still, she tried not to think about it, and she’d been managing pretty well the last four years.

She stopped to look into her own eyes in the mirror for a minute, makeup removed. Could she even _get _a guy like Kevin/Kyle/Christopher if she wanted to? She’d be hitting thirty-three that November and the dark smudges around her eyes and hollowing cheeks gave evidence to that. But maybe it was just an off day. She had better things to worry about. Like the looming threat of someone burning down the Foundation with some hyper-laser or other.

Settling down for the night, she hoped in her heart of hearts that the rest of April Curtis’ stay here would run a little smoother.


	32. Gingersnap

“And then obviously we had to set some sort of bait for the car thieves. So we had to think of something so _wild _and _unique _that they couldn’t refuse. We got these flame decals – Michael’s idea, obviously, but I was behind it all the way, I mean who wouldn’t be – and some different spoilers...”

Bonnie slowly lowered her glass from her mouth to rest in her lap, concerned by the potential outcome of this story.

“...KITT _hated_ it of course, but we stuck these flames all along his side and on his hood- oh! And these pipes along the bottom of the doors, like massive exhausts. We couldn’t decide which spoiler to use so we changed the stock one and stuck the other on top! I said ‘You know’, I said, ‘We wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t _absolutely necessary’. _But I’ll tell you the truth, I reckon he looked even better with those flames.”

“..._Right...” _Bonnie droned, sceptically. She knew she ought to be laughing, or at least smiling, at the vision of her pride and joy… _defaced_ with bright red stickers. But somehow, she simply couldn’t bring herself to it.

April seemed to sense her disdain towards the situation and casually flapped her hand towards her,

“Oh, come on, Bonnie. Where’s your sense of humour?” she tutted, flippantly, “We took them off, didn’t we?”

Bonnie strained a smile, slowly rotating the glass in her hand.

“Sorry.”

Her mind flashed back to KITT’s first year in action, at Sammy Phillips’ stunt show, where Michael had adorned KITT with a multitude of adhesive stars. If she’d hated that, she didn’t even want to picture what the flames and garish attachments looked like. The equivalent, she thought, of dressing him up now in a clown costume and forcing him to dance the Robot.

“Oh, I should tell you about the time I made this coating for the molecular bonded shell which allowed him exposure to high heat for lengthened periods of time-”

Bonnie cut her off.

“I’m sure it was really impressive,” she assured her, “And I’d love to hear it, but I… feel a headache coming on and I think I ought to lie down before it gets any worse.”

“Awh you poor chick, get some rest. It’s that port in your hand, you have to stay _hydrated_,” April insisted, as if this was a lesser-known miracle cure.

“I’ll give that a go,” Bonnie replied, a pandering lilt in her voice, and she stood up to leave.

Her conversations with April usually went this way. A story about fun adventures the FLAG members had had in her absence, a tale of something mildly troubling phrased in a way that made it sound like the end of the world, and the odd indirect question of ‘I mean, why would anyone want to miss out on an experience like that?’ or something of the sort. Bonnie took this as a hint. And it bugged her.

She paused at the door and looked back over her shoulder. April had already turned her attention to the TV.

“April?”

“Yes?”

“Why did _you _leave the Foundation?”

“_Oh!” _April chuckled, “I got an offer from this company. I wasn’t going to take it, I said to myself _‘April, they need you here at FLAG, KITT needs you, what would he do if you weren’t there?’_. But Devon was really supportive, he said I should take it, saw my potential, that’s what he said. So I thought-” (here she paused to give a little giggle) “If my boss says to take it, I don’t have much of a choice!”

Bonnie smiled, tiredly, but she’d stopped listening after what April had said regarding KITT. A sort of pang shot through her chest and the sound played over in her head.

“Right,” she said again with a nod. And she left properly.

_‘What would he do if you weren’t there?’ _replayed in her mind once more like a broken record. It was a question she remembered asking herself a lot before she’d left. But Devon had assured her that KITT would not be without a mechanic for long, that they would find someone else within the week of her deciding to go, if she decided that way. Boy, was she glad KITT didn’t have a face back then, or she would have had to look into his eyes as she told him she was leaving to further her education. That wasn’t the entirety of her reason for leaving, and she’d told him that after her return. The stress of the first year of the whole FLAG operation, KARR and Helios and Michael’s perpetual flirting had been enough to send her round the bend, she’d do anything for sweet escape.

She paused at the top of the stairs and shook the memory out of her head. But then she picked up another sound. A sort of high-pitched squeak.

Cautiously, she followed the noise to KITT’s bedroom door, where she paused. There it was again, a squeak followed by a strict ‘_shhh!’._ Gently, Bonnie knocked on the door, pushed it open and stepped half-inside.

“What’s going on, I thought you were playing tennis with B-”

Before she could finish, KITT pulled her inside, shut the door hurriedly and held her tightly by the shoulders.

“This isn’t how I thought my day would go-”

“This is a secret!” KITT told her, face but an inch from hers, “Shh!”

Bonnie suddenly found herself a little worried. Her mind threw out the theories that she was either going to be met with a dead body or she was about to be assaulted.

KITT slowly let go of her shoulders and turned around to move over to his bed, where he picked up a rolled-up towell. It looked almost like a burrito. He slowly carried it over and stepped close to her so she could see.

“We found her off the side of the court, under a bush,” KITT said.

Wrapped in the blanket, looking a little worse for wear, was a tiny tabby kitten with the pinkest nose Bonnie had ever seen. It emitted yet another pleading _‘mew’, _staring up with big blue eyes.

“K_Y _ITT…_”_

“Her name’s Ginger. Becky is downstairs getting some milk for her.”

“You _named _it?”

“Well, we have to look after her, she was stuck under the bush… Don’t tell Devon, Bonnie, _please.”_

A cautious tap at the door stole KITT’s attention.

“What’s the password?”he demanded.

“Uh… I got the milk you asked for...” came Becky’s voice from the other side. She was admitted.

“The _password _is ‘Gingersnap’,” KITT told her, clearly disappointed.

“I couldn’t remember it.”

“...Here…” KITT said, passing the bundle of towel and cat to Bonnie, “Hold her for a minute.”

“KITT, you know we can’t keep a cat,” Bonnie sighed, watching as he stared absently at the glass he was presented with.

“...Becky, why did you get it in a glass?”

“Devon was watching.”

“Can you get a spoon?”

“Fetch a liquid medicine syringe from the bathroom cabinet,” Bonnie put in, “...Please. Th- The key is hanging on a hook on the side.”

Becky swiftly departed once again, eager to help.

“KITT,” Bonnie started again, her headache getting a little worse, “You know we can’t keep a cat. Who’s going to pay for the food? Who’s going to clean up after it?”

“I will. It’s not like I have much else to spend my wage on.”

“She probably has an owner somewhere-”

“We can keep her until the owners come forward. I’ll put up posters.”

“Then I’m going to have to tell Devon.”

“But Bonnie-”

“It’s his house, he has a right to know. He’d find out soon enough anyway. And if he found out I’d been keeping things from him, I’d be in trouble. I’m sorry, KITT.”

KITT heaved a sigh and hung his head, knowing deep down she was right.

“Aunty April would let us keep the cat,” Becky put in, reappearing at once, as children often do.

Bonnie looked at her with a mixture of disappointment and guilt before taking the syringe that was held out to her. So that’s how it was going to be.

Cradling the cocooned kitten in the crook of her arm, against her chest as one might hold a newborn, she dipped the syringe into the glass and pulled about half into the barrel.

“KITT,” she began yet again, “I’m going to talk to Devon. _No, don’t look at me like that. _I’m going to see if I can convince him to let you keep the cat. _For now_. Just until the owner comes forward, if she has one.”

KITT’s face lit up like a shooting star, delighted at the concept of having a pet in the house, at least temporarily. Despite what he had always insisted, KITT did not mind animals, as long as they kept any mucky paws off his upholstery.

“Thank you, Bonnie,” he smiled, returning to his usual gentlemanly composure.

“Yeah, don’t mention it,” Bonnie smiled back, a touch of embarrassment in her voice. She had to admit, she’d already formed a bit of an attachment to Ginger herself.


	33. Miss Scarlet

The moment the FLAG crew were all in the building together, bright and early with the sun just beginning to shimmer through the windows, their mornings were abruptly interrupted.

Devon called the five into his office, and as they all trickled in, he sat upright behind his desk, patiently waiting.

Once everyone had settled, standing to attention, he raised his hand to present a folded letter. The sunlight from the window behind hit the paper so that the ink could be seen from the outside, a jumble of backwards and upside-down letters. In fact, the lighting almost made it look like some sort of sacred text.

“Everything okay, boss?” RC inquired after a moment of tense silence.

“We have received… an invitation...” Devon replied, slowly lowering the letter, “...To a ballroom party, it’s addressed to the entirety of FLAG, from an Amos Nelson.”

“You don’t look too happy about it.”

“That’s because I’m not, Reginald. I believe that this may be a diversion of some sort, from the very same people who took the blueprints. Perhaps using an alibi.”

“So we just don’t go.”

“No, we go. We have no proof that this is from the thieves, but if it is, they clearly want us out of FLAG and distracted. If we play along, we may be able to catch them in the act, although it will take a good deal of planning-”

The sound of the front doors opening interrupted his sentence. The usual visitors, returning once more. April didn’t care much for going anywhere without being accompanied by a FLAG member, fearing she might be targeted again for whatever reason, and with how much Becky enjoyed being with KITT, Michael and RC, it seemed only natural to spend all day with them.

It was the third day of the visit, with the intention being that April would stick around for five days total. Despite the lingering thought of blueprints and lasers, their spirits had not been dampened. This was partly thanks to Michael’s determination to keep everybody busy with various fun activities. No doubt he had something in mind for today, too.

“We will continue to fashion a plan later tonight,” Devon said, rising from his seat at last, “We have plenty of time, as the party is in a week. I will inform April of the developments. In the meantime, the waiting game continues.”

The others nodded in understanding before gathering themselves together and trailing out of the room once again, Michael lingering on the unpleasant thought of having to wear an itchy tuxedo.

“Bonnie, before you go.”

Bonnie stopped mid-step and turned back into the office, a little worried about what could be to follow.

“Yes?”

“About the cat,” Devon sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

“You’ve changed your mind?”

Bonnie had spent a good half hour the previous day trying to convince her boss to let KITT keep Ginger at FLAG, at least for a while. She really hadn’t expected it to work, but eventually Devon reluctantly agreed, as he did with near all of her requests. KITT had been rather delighted when she told him the answer, and she really didn’t want to be the one who had to tell him there had been a change in plans now. But Devon shook his head.

“No,” he said, “I haven’t changed my mind. Yet. Just a reminder, Bonnie: KITT is under your care, which means the cat is now under your care. Make sure he takes care of it, and if he doesn’t, that’s your responsibility.”

“Of course.”

“I realise you want to do all you can to keep him happy, and Becky, too. I understand that, and I’m sure KITT is capable enough to understand he has the responsibility of caring for an animal now… But, Bonnie...”

“Yes?”

“Don’t let anything like this happen again, alright?”

She nodded her head to mask swallowing and brushed herself down.

“I understand,” she replied.

She knew that Devon had a lot on his plate at all times, and that having an animal in the house that could scratch things or break things or get stepped on and generally cause inconveniences was not his idea of a fun time. Noting the now calm look on his face, Bonnie took her leave. She wondered, somehow, if things would have been different had somebody else asked instead of her.

♘

“KARR, there can’t be multiple killers.”

“Why not?”

“That’s not how it works,” Michael sighed.

“But it’s the only thing that makes sense; it was Colonel Mustard in the library with the pipe and Professor Plum covered for him.”

“That’s not how the game _works.” _

“Who says?”

“_The rules, KARR.”  
_

“Well the rules need to be changed.”

“It doesn’t matter what the rules_ should _be,” KITT put in, “According to the official rules we are playing by, April has won.”

KARR frowned, crossing his arms, and quietly mumbled a ‘well done, April’ along with the others. He had always been a sore loser, and Clue was one of his least favourite games, since the outcome was mostly pure chance and there was no tactical way to ensure a victory. But he still played every time.

“I think we should have a rematch,” April proclaimed.

This would be the third round.

She had quickly chosen to play as Miss Scarlet when the game was opened, leaving Bonnie with the decidedly less desirable Mrs Peacock. Bonnie didn’t mind this as such, but it felt strange to her to have somebody else take her usual role. A little too much like back in ‘83.

“Do you ever think about coming back to FLAG full-time?” Michael asked as he reset the board for another game. His timing was almost uncanny.

“I’ve thought about it,” April replied, casually inspecting her nails, “The new place is good and all, better pay, nice people, but here… it’s just different, you know? It’s not just a job, it takes over your whole life. It’s _exciting. _I don’t know why anyone would just leave it here, I probably wouldn’t have if Devon hadn’t been so insistent I follow up that offer… I think I’m comfortable where I am right now, but who knows…” she gave a playful smile as she glanced to Bonnie, “Maybe the place could do with livening up a little.”

Bonnie tried to smile back, but couldn’t quite bring herself to it. The back of her hand twitched, nervously, and she resorted to spinning her pencil in her fingers to keep it ‘entertained’. She noticed how the others politely chuckled at April’s ‘joke’. She hoped it was out of politeness, at least.

“Well, it’s been great having you back so far,” Michael told the new Miss Scarlet, “It’s just a shame you can’t stay for longer. Getting the old team back together, you know-”

_“I hope I’m not interrupting an intense game.”_

RC’s voice. He had decided against joining the game earlier since he had some work to do on his bike (Becky was also excluded, upstairs with ginger instead, half from choice and half because April didn’t want her playing a board game based around murder) but now he stood in the doorway with grease on his jeans, patiently awaiting an answer.

“What’s up, RC?” Michael hummed.

“Well it_ seems_ that one of the ratchet sockets has mysteriously disappeared...” RC shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets, “I could always use a second set of eyes…”

“I’ll go,” Bonnie offered, slightly too eagerly, her chair emitting a short squeak as it was pushed backwards, “You can start the game without me,” she assured the others.

She hated to admit, even to herself, but it was a small relief to be away from the table, from the sort of conversation they were heading towards, and from KARR’s poor sportsmanship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in the span of a few hours and it's not too pretty, I must admit. But hey, a chapter full of dialogue is better than no chapter at all.   
And look! A splash of plot development! It's like I know what I'm doing or something.   
I've had this image of the lot of them playing Clue (or Cluedo, as we call it over here) for a while now and felt a deep need to incorporate it somehow. It's a little clunky but it's there. Have you ever played Clue(do)? I have a Sherlock version but the character pieces are just upright plastic rectangles with question marks on instead of proper figures, and I think that's rather sad. I also have travel Cluedo.  
For murder on the go, you know how it is.


	34. Superseded

She couldn’t possibly imagine what Devon wanted.

He’d already spoken to her about Ginger, he’d already called a meeting with everyone to discuss the letter, what more could there be to say? Something about the party? Some new letter that had arrived in the mail overnight? And why just her personally?

Bonnie stopped in the hallway outside Devon’s office, straightened out her shirt to maintain her professional air, and stepped inside with an open ‘you wanted to speak with me?’

“Take a seat.”

She did as she was told, getting comfortable on the back of the sofa like she usually did.

“I’ve been thinking over something ever since the start of April’s visit to the Foundation,” Devon said, finally looking up from his desk and turning to her, hands clasped.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was speaking to her yesterday and the subject of a return to FLAG arose. Now, April has done some amazing work in the past. She has brought KITT back after his encounter with Goliath, after what happened in the bayou, after Adrienne stole his body, she was _even_ willing to put KITT’s appearance at risk for the sake of an assignment, which you always seemed reluctant to do.”

“...’Always’? The situation only arose one-”

“Let me finish please, Bonnie. I’ve noticed the way you act towards April, and to everybody else at the Foundation. You think that she’s underneath you because you helped to create KITT’s systems, because you’ve been here for longer.”  
“_What? _Devon, that’s not-”

“Let me finish. I have seen over the past years and months how you have changed in your outlook on FLAG as a whole, as a family. You have become, I believe, overly conceited. And this is not a new problem, it has not just arisen lately. You are_ not_ the Foundation’s matriarch. You are_ not_ a second-in-command. You do _not_ hold any power over anybody else in this organisation. I want you to remember that.”

“I never thought I did, Devon. I… _don’t _know where you’re getting this viewpoint from, but that’s not me, that’s never been me,” Bonnie insisted, her heart pounding behind her breast, “FLAG’s a family to me, that’s what we’ve always said, isn’t it? I don’t think I’m above them, I don’t think I can tell them what to do, they’re not my employees, they’re my friends. You think I’m acting like I’m, what,_ entitled?”_

“There’s no point in trying to deny it. When we took KARR back into our force, you were the one to try and stop it. So determined, like you had the final word in what the decision was. And when the decision was the one you didn’t want, we all saw how you felt. And now that April is back with us, you are displaying that same animosity.”

“Animosity?”

“April will be joining us full-time from now on,” Devon continued, ignoring her question, “As new chief technician on the Knight Two-Thousand.”

Bonnie paused, swallowed, cocked her head to the side and tried to gather the words in her mind to piece together a patchwork sentence.

“She… Sorry, _chief _technician?”

“I’m afraid the Foundation’s limited staff funds since our dip in incoming assignments means that I can only afford to keep one of you in at once.”

“So… me and her work alternate days?”

“No, Bonnie.”

“Remotely?”

“No.”

“...Devon, you can’t… you can’t mean you’re _firing _me. After all we’ve been through, I...”

“I’m afraid your attitude and negative disposition towards the other members is too much of a liability in our line of work. I’m sorry, Bonnie. First KARR, now April, and we all know how it’s been between you and Michael since the start. FLAG needs somebody neutral, with no vendetta against the other members.”

“_Vendetta? _I don’t have… and what about KITT? He needs me, Devon, I’m the only one who knows how his systems work now he’s in his new body.”

“We were planning on having his CPU moved back into the car soon enough anyway. He has worked with April in the past, it’s not as if they’re strangers, or the concept of him is foreign to her.”

Bonnie felt her eyes well with hot, flustered tears. FLAG was a part of her, it ran through her veins as much as her blood did, being away from it – from KITT especially – for that one year had been excruciating at times. Like a mother bear separated from her cub or a positive magnet being tugged by a negative.

“I can’t just leave FLAG, I can’t. Isn’t there anything you can do? You can lower my wage, I’ll work fewer hours, I’ll- I’ll even work for free, _anything,” _she begged, beginning to pace around the room in agitation._  
_

_“_You certainly weren’t this adamant to stay before.”

“And leaving was a mistake I swore to myself I’d never make again. I told KITT I would never, I couldn’t ever, leave here for a second time. I know there’s been highs and lows, but I don’t want to lose what I have here.”

“Your fanciful authority?”

“My bond, Devon. With KITT, with everyone else. Even you, you’ve been like a father to me for years, getting fired would be like being disowned. Please, come on, don’t do this.”

“I’m sorry, Bonnie. My mind is made up. We’re letting you go.”

The words cut straight to her bone, and they felt rotten. Ever since she’d joined the Foundation it had become such an integral part of her life. It didn’t even feel like a job any more, she’d never even considered the possibility of being fired. She’d die on the job, that’s what she’d always believed, and with a job like hers it wasn’t all too unlikely.

“How do I...” she began, angrily wiping the tears away from her eyes before they could fall, “How do I tell KITT?”

“He’s been told,” Devon replied, simply. There really hadn’t been a possibility of him changing his mind from the start.

Bonnie stared back at him, lost for words, glued in place to the floor of a room that had formerly felt so comforting to her but now felt very cold and alien. Like she didn’t belong there. And she found herself speaking the words she never thought she’d have to say again.

“Thank you for the opportunity.”

And as if in a trance, she left the room, in disbelief of what just took place. And in the hallway she met KITT, who looked back at her as if she was somebody else. Not a word was spoken between them, and for once in her life, Bonnie could not read the feeling on his face.

She snapped to consciousness all of a sudden, rolling over and sitting upright, feeling awfully dizzy and awfully confused.

Her bedsheets fell off her, unceremoniously, and the low ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway met her ringing ears. Though the room was still cloaked in darkness, it was clear after mere seconds that she was in the safety of her room in the Knight mansion.

With a fervent guilty sensation in her chest, Bonnie pushed her hands into the crisp bedsheets, the sound of the fabric moving almost overwhelmingly loud in the early-morning silence.

_“Ah, boy...”_

After rubbing her eyes with the base of her palms, she slipped out of bed and got herself dressed. She couldn’t just go back to bed, she didn’t think she’d be able to if she tried. So naturally the only other option was the garage, if she could be quiet enough.

Despite the relief of realising she still had her job, it pained her to think that she’d even imagined a world in which Devon would do something like that to her. She knew he wasn’t like that; he cared for her, respected her even. But still, the points that Imaginary-Devon had brought up played on her mind like a broken record. _Was she really hostile? Did she really think of herself as top dog, guarding her territory against people she thought threatened her position of comfort? Was she… a liability?_

As much as she hated the thought, she couldn’t stop it occurring to her. It danced around her head like a wasp she couldn’t swat out of the way. So regardless of the obscurity of the idea, she ventured down to the garage at four in the morning to shift her focus to fuel pumps and spark plugs.


End file.
